Seeded shuttlers beaten in Paris meet

Seeded shuttlers beaten in Paris meet

PARIS (AFP): Scandinavia's men's and women's singles top seeds, Martin Lundgaard Hansen and Margit Borg, crashed out of the French Open badminton championships on Friday.

Little-known and unranked Dharma Gunawi of Indonesia caused the first shock by ousting Denmark's Lundgaard Hansen 15-6, 15-9 in the second round.

And at the same stage in the women's event, Sweden's Borg, world ranked 31, was cast aside by Russia's Elena Rybkina, classed 106, 11-4, 11-1.

Lundgaard Hansen, world ranked 29, warned it would be a tough match against the 23-year-old German-based Indonesian, and his prediction proved all too true.

Dharma outplayed his opponent with a combination of aggressive jump smashes and deft drop shots to virtually lead from start to finish.

He trailed 3-2 in the second game, but was soon back on top and earned a 35-minute win with a typical smash on his second match point.

Dharma's tournament was nearly cut short in the third round as he trailed by a set and 13-9 to Sweden's Mats Svensson. But Dharma ran out a 17-18, 18-15, 15-6 winner and was scheduled to set up a quarter-final clash with Indonesia's Budi Santoso Saturday.

This season, Dharma has not played in international tournaments outside Germany, meaning he is not world-ranked.

But Dharma, who plays for Langenfeld, in Germany, intends to compete in European international events from now on.

Dharma moved from Indonesia two years ago to study in Hamburg. He played at the Hamburg club, before recently signing a player/coach contract at Langenfeld.

Another surprise came when Germany's Volker Renzelmann ousted Holland's Joris Van Soerland, seeded 3/4, 8-15, 15-12, 15-10 at the second round stage.

But Holland had a better time in the women's doubles when Carolien Glebbeek and Brenda Conijn beat second seeds Monica Memoli and Maria Luise Mur of Italy 15-10, 15-11 in a first round match.