Ricky and Rexy ready for hardest post-Atlanta test

By Primastuti Handayani

NUSA DUA, Bali (JP): Indonesia's men's doubles stars Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky see the Lipton World Grand Prix Badminton Finals as their greatest test since their victory at the Centennial Olympic in Atlanta, Georgia.

The Olympic gold medalists promise to perform at their best in the tournament, which runs for five days from today at the Juana Mandala Stadium, after their three-month lay-off and their loss in the second round of the Hong Kong Open.

"This is the best Grand Prix series and I really want to show off my best skills," Rexy told Kompas and The Jakarta Post.

Ricky and Rexy, dubbed the double Rs, missed last year's final in Singapore, which is the climax of the 19 annual Grand Prix series tournaments, because Ricky was ill.

"We took part in the Hong Kong Open as preparation for this event and to readjust to a competitive situation," Rexy said.

Ricky/Rexy are in the same group as their archrivals Cheah Soon Kit/Yap Kim Hock of Malaysia, who took the Olympic silver, in the US$350,000 event.

Compatriots Antonius/Denny Kantono and Chandra Wijaya/Sigit are in group B together with Jon Holst-Christensen/Thomas Lund of Denmark and Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah of Malaysia.

"We have to fight real hard from the initial match, as we have to be the group's winner," Rexy said.

He said that fighting against Cheah/Yap at home should not be as hard as it was in Atlanta.

"Now we are more relaxed and we don't have any burdens," he said.

Rudy Hartono of the Badminton Association of Indonesia expected an all-Indonesian final in the men's doubles.

"We still see Cheah/Yap as the toughest rivals but they lost to our juniors before and I believe that their chances are not that good," he said.

Cheah/Yap were beaten by another national pair, Chandra/Sigit, at the US Open Championships in September.

Rudy warned Indonesia's Joko Suprianto to be aware of young Chinese shuttlers, particularly Dong Jiong and Sun Jun.

"They are young and still on the up. They can cause Joko problems," he said.

Joko is in the same group as Fung Permadi of China Taipei, who used to play for Indonesia, Chen Gang of China and Dane Martin Lundgaard Hansen.

Olympic gold medalist Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen is in the same group as Alan Budikusuma, the 1992 Olympic gold medalist, rookie Budi Santoso, finalist of the Indonesia Open in Medan, North Sumatra in August, and Hu Zhilan of China.

Good chance

According to Rudi, Susi Susanti, who has won the title five times, has a good chance of winning the tournament again as her main rival, Bang Soo-hyun of South Korea, is absent as the event clashes with her wedding.

"Susi also has to be aware of young Chinese shuttlers like Wang Chen and Zeng Yaqiong," he said.

Susi is in the same group as Zeng and Chinese Han Jingna.

Indonesia's young hope Mia Audina, the Olympic silver medalist, is in the same group as Gong Zhichao of China and Christina Gandrup of Sweden.

Rudi said that Indonesia's women's doubles and mixed doubles teams will face stiff challenges from China and Denmark to reach the finals.

"If they can even get to the final, it'll be a big achievement for them," he said.

The International Badminton Federation guaranteed that the tournament's matches would not last after midnight.

David Shaw, a spokesman for the federation, said yesterday that the preliminary round matches are to start at 5.00 p.m. Central Indonesian Time, which is one hour ahead of Jakarta time.

"We are likely to play close to midnight. But hopefully, we can finish by 11.30 local time," Shaw said.

"We want to attract more families to watch the matches. Families won't watch until one or two in the morning," he added.

When he was asked whether starting at 5.00 p.m. was not too late, Shaw said that the purpose is to wait until people come home from work.

From today through Friday, eight matches will be featured daily at the three-court stadium.

Hong Kong-based Star TV, in cooperation with Indonesia's Indosiar, will air the semifinals and finals live on Saturday and Sunday.

The tickets cost Rp 5,000 and Rp 7,500.

Grouping

Men's singles: Group A: Joko Suprianto (Ina) Fung Permadi (Tpe) Chen Gang (Chn)

Martin Lundgaard Hansen (Den) Group B: Dong Jiong (Chn) Ong Ewe Hock (Mas) Thomas Stuer-

Lauridsen (Den) Indra Wijaya (Ina) Group C: Rashid Sidek (Mas) Sun Jun (Chn) Hermawan Susanto (Ina)

Soren B Nielsen (Den) Group D: Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen (Den) Alan Budikusuma (Ina) Budi

Santoso (Ina) Hu Zhilan (Chn)

Women's singles Group A: Mia Audina (Ina) Gong Zhichao (Chn)

Christina Grandup (Swe) Group B: Ye Zhaoying (Chn) Meiluawati (Ina) Yao Yan (Chn) Group C: Wang Chen (Chn) Camilla Martin (Den)

Lidya Djaelawidjaya (Ina) Group D: Susi Susanti (Ina) Zeng Yaqiong (Chn) Han Jingna (Chn)

Men's doubles: Group A: Cheah Soon Kit/Yap Kim Hock (Mas) Ricky Subagja/Rexy Mainaky (Ina) Tony Gunawan/Rudy Wijaya (Ina) Peter Axelsson/Par- Gunnar Jonsson (Swe) Group B: Denny Kantono/Antonius (Ina) Chandra Wijaya/Sigit (Ina) Jon Holst-Christensen/Thomas Lund (Den) Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah (Mas)

Women's doubles: Group A: Indarti Isolina/Deyana Lomban (Ina) Lisbet Stuer- Lauridsen/Marlene Thomsen (Den) Qin Yiyuan/Tang Yongshu (Chn) Christina Gandrup/Marina Andrievskaya (Swe) Group B: Eliza/Zelin Rosiana (Ina) Ge Fei/Gu Jun (Chn) Helen Kirkegaard/Rikke Olsen (Den) Nicola Beck/Joanne Davies (Gbr)

Mixed doubles: Group A: Trikus Heryanto/Minarti Timur (Ina) Chen Xingdong/Peng Xingyong (Chn) Thomas Stavngaard/Ann Jorgensen (Den) Chris Hunt/Helene Kirkegaard (Gbr/Den) Group B: Michael Sogaard/Rikke Olsen (Den) Flandy Limpele/Risyeu Rosalina (Ina) Nick Ponting/Joanne Goode (Gbr) Peter Axelsson/Catrine Bengtsson (Swe)