Sultan blameless over Brunei debacle, says IBF

Sultan blameless over Brunei debacle, says IBF

LONDON (Agencies): The sultan of Brunei, the front-runner to
be the International Badminton Federation (IBF)'s next president,
is blameless over the embarrassing late postponement of the Word
Grand Prix Finals due to he held in his country, the IBF said on
Sunday.

The showpiece event, due to start in Brunei on March 28, was
unexpectedly called off on Friday with the IBF citing
"logistical" reasons, including ticketing and security. Officials
now hope to stage the tournament in August.

Media officer Lindsey Bell said it would have been "improper"
for the sultan to have been involved in any of the organization,
given he is a presidential candidate.

The sultan is the IBF's candidate to take over in June but
faces two heavyweight challengers: current IBF vice president
Justian Suhandinata from Indonesia and Asian Badminton
Confederation chairman Korn Dabbaransi of Thailand.

Bell admitted the Brunei postponement was "embarrassing".

"We can only apologize, to the players in particular," she
said. "An investigation is being held as to what went wrong and
why these problems went unchecked until such a late stage.

"As to how this will affect the sultan's candidacy, the
organization of the World Grand Prix Finals really had nothing to
do with him. He does not hold, and never has held, a position in
the Brunei Badminton Association or at the IBF so cannot be held
responsible in any way.

"In fact, given that the only relationship he has with IBF is
that he's a presidential candidate, it would have been improper
for him to become involved.

"It's my understanding that the sultan, along with a large
proportion of the Brunei royal family and their aides were in
Oklahoma last week when the World Grand Prix Finals meetings were
taking place, as the Sultan's teenage son underwent a heart
operation.

"Whether this affects his intention to stand in the election
remains to be seen, but I think it would be unfair to judge his
potential presidential abilities on this given that he was never
involved with the event.

"The finals were due to be held in Brunei long before the
Sultan's intention to stand was announced."

Bell said, as quoted by Reuters, that ticketing and security
had proved a problem.

"A license to sell tickets for an event must be applied for
well in advance. This had not been applied for and security and
crowd control measures were lacking as well."

Swiss Open

Separately, top seeded Taufik Hidayat and third seeded Marlev
Mainaky of Indonesia lost to a pair of Malaysian shuttlers in the
semifinals of the US$120,000 Swiss Open in Basel, Switzerland, on
Saturday.

It was reported on the tournament's webpage,
www.swissopen.com, that Taufik was beaten by unseeded Lee Tsuen
Seng 6-8, 8-7, 7-1, 5-7, 3-7, while Marlev bowed out to second
seeded Roslin Hashim 5-7, 6-8, 7-2, 3-7.

Lee and Roslin will meet in an all-Malaysian final on Sunday.

In the men's doubles, Denmark ensured itself of the title
after securing an all-Danish final.

Top seeds Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen defeated the South
Korean pair Ha Tae-kwon and Chung Jae-sung 7-5, 7-4, 4-7, 8-6.
And fourth seeds Michael Sogaard and Jim Laugesen ousted
compatriots Martin Lundgaard Hansen and Lars Paaske 7-1, 7-2, 7-
8, 7-3.

Denmark also secured a title in the mixed doubles after
securing another all-Danish final. Top seeds Michael Sogaard and
Rikke Olsen eliminated South Koreans Yoo Yong-sung and Hwang Yoo-
mee 7-4, 7-5, 7-0, while second seeds Jens Eriksen and Mette
Schjoldager crushed compatriots Michael Lamp and Ann-Lou
Jorgensen 7-1, 7-2, 7-4.

In the women's singles, top seeded Marina Andrievskaya of
Sweden was upset by Xu Huaiwen of Germany 0-7, 7-1, 2-7, 3-7. In
the final, Xu will meet Seo Yoon-hee of South Korea, who defeated
teammate Jun Jae-youn 7-5, 7-2, 7-3.

The top seeded Danish women's doubles team of Rikke Olsen and
Helene Kirkegaard beat Japanese duo Shizuku Yamamoto and Seiko
Yamada 7-0, 7-4, 7-2. In the final, they will meet eighth seeds
Ra Kyung-min and Lee Kyung-won of South Korea, who defeated
Japanese duo Megumi Oniike and Kaori Mori 7-1, 7-5, 7-3. (yan)