Rony expected to retain form in Indonesia Open
Rony expected to retain form in Indonesia Open
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's men's singles Rony Agustinus is
expected to retain his top performance at the US$170,000
Indonesia Open to begin on Wednesday at Bung Karno Indoor
Stadium.
Coach Agus Dwi Santoso told The Jakarta Post upon his arrival
from Malaysia on Monday that he had not set a special target for
the world-ranked 31st Indonesian, but only expected him to
continue his top form.
"I see Rony has improved his performance, especially mentally,
but he must retain the image of being able to reach the finals.
He can't lose to lesser-known shuttlers," he said.
Rony reached the concluded Malaysia Open by crushing All
England champion Pullela Gopichang of India, world champion
Hendrawan of Indonesia and world number two Chen Hong of China to
reach the finals.
Unfortunately, he had to bow out to experienced host Ong Ewe
Hock in a nail-biting match.
"I still have to observe Rony's form in the next three or four
tournaments before setting a target for him in the future. He
still needs to adapt to the new scoring system," Agus said.
The $120,000 Malaysia Open is the first Grand Prix series to
decide the winner on the best of five games with each game
lasting seven points. The scoring system was introduced by the
International Badminton Federation to make the sport more
interesting.
Rony, who is seeded sixth in the Indonesia Open, which starts
July 23, will meet Jim Ronny Andersen of Norway in the first
round. Should he win, he will face the winner of the match
between Park Tae-sang of South Korea and Boonsak Polsana of
Thailand.
If he survives, he is likely to challenge second seed
Gopichand in the quarterfinals.
Hendrawan, the world number seven, is facing Yeoh Kay Bin of
Malaysia in the first round. If he succeeds in winning, he is
likely to challenge archrival Tam Kai Chuen of Hong Kong in the
third round.
World champions Tony Gunawan and Halim Heryanto top the
seeding list in the men's doubles. They will be challenged by
Frederik Bergstrom and Henrik Andersson of Sweden in the second
round.
Should they manage to overcome all barriers, the world number
five are likely to repeat the Malaysia Open scene by facing
compatriots Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto, who are ranked as
second seeds here, in the final.
Candra and Sigit, the Japan Open winners, defeated their
fellow countrymen last week in a tough battle.
Newly crowned Malaysia Open winner Bambang Suprianto remains
the top seed at the mixed doubles with permanent partner Minarti
Timur, who missed last week's event due to illness and was
replaced by Emma Ermawati.
Their toughest challengers in the final will likely be juniors
Nova Widhianto and Vita Marissa or Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms
of England.
China, which previously dominated the top seeding lists,
decided to pull out in the last minutes fearing the security
situation during the People's Consultative Assembly (MPR) Special
Session, which elected Megawati Soekarnoputri as new President on
Monday. This is the fourth consecutive time that China has
skipped the Indonesia Open. (yan)