Taufik, Sony get first-round byes in China
Taufik, Sony get first-round byes in China
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Indonesia's singles hopefuls Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat
and Sony Dwi Kuncoro will receive a bye in the first round of the
US$250,000 China Open badminton tournament in Guangzhou on
Tuesday.
From the draw, which was released on www.worldbadminton.net,
on Tuesday, Sony is likely to face his tough test in the third
round against Malaysia's top shuttler Wong Choong Hann.
Sony, who is seeded fourth in the tournament, looks to build
on his Olympic performance which earned him a bronze.
"I want to prove to myself that I can do it. I want to win
this event," Sony told The Jakarta Post on Saturday prior to the
team's departure to China.
Sony and Wong have evened their meeting record at 3-3 but Sony
has won their last two matches in the 2003 Southeast Asian (SEA)
Games and Thomas Cup.
Eighth seed Taufik Hidayat is expected to face little trouble
until the quarterfinals where he is tipped to clash with his
rival Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark.
In the men's doubles, Indonesia's aces and world's number one
pair Alven Yulianto and Luluk Hadiyanto are skipping the
tournament in order to focus more on the five-star Singapore Open
the following week.
They leave the task to re-united pair Candra Wijaya and Sigit
Budiarto, and young pair Markis Kidho and Hendra Setiawan.
Candra and Sigit, who had partnered in the past before
breaking up, play against Hong Kong's Chan Yan Kit and Wong Wai
Hong in the first round, while Markis and Hendra Setiawan will
tackle English pair Simon Archer and Anthony Clark.
Men's doubles coach Christian Hadinata said that he is not
setting any target for the two pairs, particularly for Candra and
Sigit who will make their first partnership in the tournament
after splitting for sometime.
The team is also keen to see it as a test in the mixed doubles
with Nova Widianto pairing with Lilyana Natsir and Anggun Nugroho
with Yunita Tetty for the first time in official matches.
Nova teams with Lilyana, as his regular partner Vita Marissa
is nursing a shoulder injury, while Anggun has lost Eny Erlangga
who resigned from the training center three months ago.
In their debut, Nova and Lilyana will take on world number one
Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms, while Anggun and Yunita are up
against another English pair, seventh seeds Robert Blair and
Natalie Munt.
Mixed doubles coach Richard Mainaky said that he was
optimistic about Nova and Lilyana's chances to reach the
semifinals.
"Lilyana is a very good player and she's got the same playing
characteristics as Vita. I'm sure she can replace Vita to pose an
edge in this event," Richard said.