Surprising Simon beats seed in Korea
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesian men's singles player Simon Santoso upset the form book and a strong opening game challenge from 10th seed Agus Hariyanto of Hong Kong on Tuesday in the first round of the Noonnoppi Korea Open 2005.
In the first meeting of the two players, unseeded Simon had the upper hand throughout, winning 15-11, 15-1 over the Indonesian-born player in Incheon.
In the second round on Wednesday, 19-year-old Simon will meet home player Choi Sang-Won, who defeated Japan's Koichi Saeki 15- 13, 15-10 in the first round, according to the tournament's official website www.koreaopen.or.kr.
Both Simon and Choi have yet to meet in competition.
The Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) sent Simon in the men's singles, three men's doubles pairs -- Luluk Hadiyanto/Alven Yulianto, Candra Wijaya/Sigit Budiarto, Markis Kidho/Hendra Setiawan -- and the two mixed doubles pairs of Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir and Anggun Nugroho/Yunita Tetty to the tournament.
PBSI set a target for one of the men's double pairs to win the six-star Open, and one of the mixed doubles to at least reach semifinal. However, not much was expected from Simon due to a mediocre record in 2004.
Simon achieved his best result last year in the Siam Cement WGP Thailand Open in January, reaching the quarterfinals.
He participated in a number of events throughout the year, but rarely advanced to the last 32.
However, in the 2004 Djarum Indonesia Open held in Jakarta in December, Simon was stopped in the last sixteen.
On Wednesday, Nova/Lilyana, the fifth seeds, will meet Hwang Ji Man/Jun Woul Sik of South Korea, while Anggun/Yunita will play Keita Masuda/Kumiko Ogura of Japan in the first round.
In men's doubles, defending champions top seeded Luluk/Alven received a bye in the first round and will have their first match on Thursday.
Candra/Sigit and Markis /Hendra are unseeded and will also play their first match on Thursday.
Candra/Sigit will meet Mohd Fairuzizuan B. Tazari/ Lin Woon Fui of Malaysia, while Markis/Hendra will take on Nathan Robertson/Robert Blair of England.