Susi wins first match in world c'ship title defense
Susi wins first match in world c'ship title defense
LAUSANNE, Switzerland (AFP): Defending champion and top seed Susi Susanti won her first women's singles match here easily yesterday as the world badminton championships moved into its second week.
The 24-year-old world and Olympic champion cruised into the third round with an 11-2, 11-0 win over Debra O'Connor of Trinidad and Tobago.
Susi's balletic movement about court and effortless stroke making was too much for O'Connor who could make no impact on the match.
Susanti's first big test is set for tomorrow evening in the fifth round against 9/16 seed Yao Yan of China.
Then she is scheduled to meet South Korea's 5/8 seed Ra Kyung Min in the quarterfinal, and All-England runner-up Camilla Martin of Denmark in the semifinal.
However Indonesian team manager Iwan Setiawan was not optimistic about her chances, and said: "The individuals will be very hard for Susi."
Susi had only lost once in 1995 till the Sudirman Cup -- to Sweden's China-born Lim Xiaoqing in the All-England semifinals in March.
But Susi lost to both Asian Games champion Bang Soo-hyun of South Korea and China's world number six Ye Zhaoying in the Sudirman Cup. China beat Indonesia 3-1 in Sunday's final.
"She will need to improve if she wants to retain here title," added Iwan, who could not explain her poor form over the last few days.
Though Susi's defense was as good as ever, Iwan said she will have to attack more and be more positive.
Iwan further believed Indonesia's expected dominance of the individual events overall were under threat.
Hariyanto Arbi and Ricky Subagja/Rexy Mainaky are top seeded in the men's singles and men's doubles -- but Iwan only predicted the men's doubles top seeds as near certainties for gold for his country.
The losses of Hariyanto to China's Sun Jun, plus the defeat of second seed Ardy B Wiranata to Denmark's Peter Rasmussen in the Sudirman Cup, has cast doubt on their title credentials.
On Hariyanto's loss, Iwan added: "Hariyanto was nervous. That was probably because he was under pressure as we had lost the first two matches of the final. He will have to get a lot better to have a chance in the singles."