Ricky and Rexy drop to world number two
Ricky and Rexy drop to world number two
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian world doubles champions Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky have to start the new badminton season as world number two, after suffering a string of losses in the last few months of last year.
The number one spot, however, remains safe in Indonesia's grip as the International Badminton Federation put 1994 All-England winners Bambang Suprianto and Rudy Gunawan at the top of the list with a total score of 324.80.
Ricky and Rexy are second with 320.52, followed by Grand Prix Finals champions Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock who earned 318.82.
Other Indonesian doubles, Denny Kantono and Antonius, keep their hopes of making an Olympic appearance in July alive as they at sixth with 280.28. Indonesia's new faces Tony Gunawan and Rudy Widjaya trail on the seventh place with 274.19.
There is also a notable change in the ladies singles list with China's world champion Ye Zhaoying vaulting to the top for the first time, in place of South Korean Bang Soo-hyun.
Ye, who sealed last season with a title at the Grand Prix Finals in Singapore in December, earned 338.15 points. Bang came a distant second with 329.95.
Indonesian badminton queen Susi Susanti, who filled the final half of the season with bad notes last year, slumped to her lowest spot since 1992 at third place with 324.53. All-England champion Lim Xiaoqing of Sweden is fourth.
Susi was beaten by Ye in all of their last three meetings. The Indonesian also struggled against injury she suffered in her upset loss to Bang in the China Open early in November, which forced her out of badminton court for six weeks.
Another three Indonesians join the top 16, with Mia Audina placed sixth, Lydia Djaelawidjaya 13th and Yuliani Sentosa 14th.
The men's singles rankings look stable with Indonesian world champion Hariyanto Arbi leading the pack with 336.09. Teammate Joko Suprianto is keeping up the pressure, narrowing the gap between them to just 10 points.
Olympic gold medalist Alan Budikusuma is now third, ahead of All-England winner Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark at fourth and Indonesian Ardy Wiranata at fifth.
In the women doubles, Indonesia's new hopefuls Eliza and Zelin Resiana garnered 263.85 to be sixth on the board. Chinese duo Ge Fei and Gu Jun top the standings, ahead of archrivals and world champions Gil Young-ach and Jang Hye-ock of South Korea and Danish doubles team of Lisbet Steuer Lauridsen and Marlene Thomson.
Indonesian mixed doubles pair Tri Kusharyanto and Minarti Timur soared to 303.69 to take the lead from South Korean world champions Kim Dong-moon and Gil. (yan)