RI optimistic in men's singles title

RI optimistic in men's singles title

By Primastuti Handayani

COPENHAGEN (JP): Indonesia is optimistic about winning the
men's singles titles in the World Championships this week after
its failure in the Sudirman Cup semifinals on Friday.

"We have a great chance to win the men's singles title. I have
told the shuttlers to get over the loss in the Sudirman Cup and
start concentrating on the World Championships," said team
manager Agus Wirahadikusumah on Saturday.

"Either Hendrawan or Taufik Hidayat has a chance to win the
title. I hope Taufik's semifinals loss to Peter Gade Christensen
of Denmark will be his last. Hopefully, both players can meet in
the World Championships final and Taufik can take revenge," he
said.

Indonesia has four men's singles players; world number three
Budi Santoso, number eight Hendrawan, number 10 Taufik Hidayat
and unseeded Hariyanto Arbi.

Hendrawan said he aimed to win the World Championships after
his poor performances in several tournaments after the 1998 Asian
Games, in which he won the silver after losing to Chinese Dong
Jiong.

"I want to become the World Champion this year because I might
not get another chance," said the 26-year-old Indonesian.

"After the Asian Games, I slackened my training and it
affected my performance in the tournaments. I then realized I had
to work harder to reach my best," he said.

Hendrawan will meet South Korean Park Tae-sang in the first
round on Tuesday at 7:30 p.m. (12:30 a.m. West Indonesia Time).
If he wins, he will face the winner of a match between Thomas
Wapp of Switzerland and a qualifier. In the third round,
Hendrawan will likely face either Dong Jiong of China or Ardy B.
Wiranata, an Indonesian who plays under the banner of the United
States.

While Taufik said he was ready to compete in the World
Championships, the 17-year-old Indonesian will most likely manage
to eliminate Polsana Boonsak of Thailand in the first round. In
the second round, Taufik will meet the winner of a match between
Bertrand Gallet of France and Richard Doling of England.

But he will face a tough challenge with Sun Jun of China, who
will most likely be able to overcome his opponents in the early
rounds.

Budi Santoso, 23, will meet a qualifier in the first round. He
will then meet the winner of a match between Sweden Thomas
Johansson and Chen Hong of China. If Budi manages to reach the
third round, he will probably face Dane Kenneth Jonassen.

Hariyanto only has a slight chance of reaching the third
round. He will meet a qualifier in the first match but after that
will meet world number one Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark, who
will most likely lose no sweat to defeat Ahn Jae-chang of South
Korea.

Favorites

Denmark head coach, Kenneth Larsen, said Hendrawan, Taufik,
Gade Christensen, defending champion Peter Rasmussen of Denmark,
Sun and teammate Dong Jiong were favorites in the World
Championships.

"After his defeat from Sun Jun in Sudirman Cup final, Gade
Christensen has a bigger motivation in the World Championships.
If Taufik can stop Sun, then one of the Danish singles will win
the title," he said.

Larsen said Hendrawan could meet 1996 Olympic gold medalist
Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen in the quarterfinals.

"Hendrawan is also a favorite, but Poul-Erik has been training
really hard since Christmas and he's in good shape now. He's very
fast and good at the net. He can beat everyone but Sun," he said.

In the women's singles, Indonesia had no chance to overcome
China's domination. China has six seededs of world number one Ye
Zhaoying, number two Gong Ruina, fourth seeded Dai Yun, number
five Zhang Ning, number six Zhou Mi and seventh seeded Gong
Zhichao. They will meet only one tough challenge from Dane
Camilla Martin, world number three.

Larsen said: "Camilla showed a good performance in the
Sudirman Cup. She will only face a challenge from Chinese Ye,
Zhang and Dai."

Indonesia's 10th seeded Cindana Hartono will have to struggle
against Thai Sujitra Eakmongkolpaisarn in the first round. If she
manages to beat the Thai, she will face the winner of a match
between Judith Meulendiks of the Netherlands and Rabecca Pantaney
of England.

Lidya Djaelawidjaja, seeded 11, will face Johanna Holgersson
of Sweden in the first round. If Lidya wins, she will then face
the winner of a match between Nicole Grether of Germany and Santi
Wibowo, an Indonesian who plays for Switzerland.