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.