Taufik ranks second, Christensen takes over
Taufik ranks second, Christensen takes over
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian men's singles player Taufik Hidayat
dropped to second place in the International Badminton Federation
(IBF) world rankings after sitting out the US$250,000 Korea Open
last week.
Taufik missed the event because he was banned for two
international matches by the Badminton Association of Indonesia
(PBSI) following his criticism of association chairman Subagyo
Hadisiswoyo.
Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark moved back to the top of the
world rankings as a result of his victory at the event.
Olympics bronze medalist Xia Xuanze of China moved up to third
in the rankings. He was followed by Indonesian Olympic silver
medalist Hendrawan, who also skipped the Korea Open to get
married.
Indonesia's Marlev Mainaky, Indonesia's only men's singles
shuttler to reach the Korea Open quarterfinals, moved from 10th
to seventh in the rankings.
In the men's doubles, Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian retained
their top spot in the rankings despite their early exit from the
Korea Open. Flandy and Eng Hian lost in the third round to the
Danish duo of Michael Lamp and Jonas Rasmussen.
Olympic gold medalists Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan dropped
from second to fifth in the rankings. The pair were split up for
the Korea Open.
Candra, playing with former partner Sigit Budiarto, was ousted
in the second round, while Tony and Halim Heryanto reached the
quarterfinals.
The pairing of Sigit and Halim were ranked sixth in the world,
while the veteran duo of Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky were
14th. Rexy retired last year and has moved to England to work as
a coach.
In the women's singles, Denmark's Camilla Martin used her
victory in the Korea Open to return to the top spot in the
rankings, ousting rival and Olympic gold medalist Gong Zhichao of
China.
Korea Open runner-up Kim Ji-hyun jumped from sixth to third
position, a fitting reward for her Korea Open final appearance.
In the women's doubles, Huang Nanyan and Yang Wei remained on
top, followed by Olympic gold medalists Ge Fei and Gu Jun.
Indonesia's Etty Tantri and Cynthia Tuwankotta were ranked
seventh on the list even though Cynthia missed the Korea Open
with an ankle injury. Etty and partner Indarti Issoliana reached
the second round of the event.
In the mixed doubles, Denmark's Michael Sogaard and Rikke
Olsen retained the number one position, with Olympic champions
Zhang Jun and Gao Ling moving up three places to number two.
Olympic silver medalists Tri Kusherjanto and Minarti Timur
were sixth on the list, while compatriots Bambang Suprianto and
Zelin Resiana were 10th. (yan)