Taufik tipped to retain Asian badminton crown
Taufik tipped to retain Asian badminton crown
MANILA (AFP): Defending men's singles champion Taufik Hidayat
heads a cast of world class stars in the JVC Asian Badminton
Championships here from Wednesday.
Ranked fifth in the world, the baby-faced Indonesian is fresh
from victory in the Singapore Open. But his bid to retain the
crown he won last year in Jakarta faces a major obstacle in the
shape of China's Xia Xuanze.
Xia, the world number three, is coming off a win at last
week's World Grand Prix in Brunei.
More than 200 players from 19 countries are taking part in the
US$150,000 championships which is using the old 15-point scoring
system instead of the new 7-point scoring system.
Wang Chen, the China-born world number five who now plays for
Hong Kong, is the favorite in the ladies' singles.
Taufik's compatriots Bambang Suprianto and Minarti Timur will
be defending their mixed doubles crown but are seeded only second
behind the South Korean pair of Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min,
the Olympic gold medalists.
In the men's doubles, Indonesia reunites its Sydney Olympics
gold medalists Candra Wijaya with Tony Gunawan due to injuries
suffered by their current partners.
Currently, Candra is paired with Sigit Budiarto and Tony with
Halim Haryanto. The second pair is filled by old hands Bambang
Suprianto and Tri Kusheryanto who now mainly compete in the mixed
doubles event. Bambang and Tri have passed their qualification
round.
The top-seeded ladies doubles squad is China's world number
two duo of Gao Ling and Huang Sui.
Notable absentees are the South Korean duo of Lee Hyo and Kim
Kyung-jin, the reigning champions.
Philippine police are deploying a 300-member police task force
to protect the players and the venue amid concerns about
kidnappings and crime in general.
Two Chinese engineers were slain by Muslim guerrillas in a
hostage crisis in the south last Sunday.
Organized by the Asian Badminton Confederation, the tournament
will be held at the Philsports Arena in eastern Manila.
"The (police) task force has already met twice to prepare for
any contingencies that may occur," said Chief Superintendent
Edgardo Aglipay, the operations director of the Philippine
national police who is also executive vice president of the
Philippine Badminton Association.
Playing in front of a partisan crowd in Jakarta, Indonesia
dominated last year's tournament by taking three of the five
titles.