Top absentees give Sony a clear run

Top absentees give Sony a clear run

Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Defending champion Sony Dwi Kuncoro's bid for back-to-back
titles has been boosted by the absence of top players at the
US$150,000 JVC Asian Badminton Championships 2003, which start on
Wednesday at the Bung Karno Tennis Indoor Stadium.

Sony, whose championship victory last year came at the expense
of fellow Indonesian Taufik Hidayat, told a media conference on
Tuesday that he would not lose his fighting spirit in defending
his title, to make amends for a string of dismal performances
this year.

"The absence of many world-ranking players in this year's
championship will not discourage me. I am determined to defend my
title," said the 19-year-old, who is currently ranked eighth in
the world and number one in the country.

The tournament has been left depleted with the withdrawal of
Chinese players and the majority of South Korea's and Malaysia's
top contenders.

Players from the three countries have traditionally been
strong rivals for Indonesia's players, not only in Asia but in
international competition.

Sony, whose last appearance was a third-round run at the
Denmark Open, is left as the only champion from the 2002 edition
featuring in the tournament.

Other 2002 winners, Zhou Mi (women's singles), Kim Dong-
moon/Ha Tae-kwon (men's doubles), Yang Wei/Zhang Jiewen (women's
doubles), Zhang Wei/Gao Ling (mixed doubles) are among the
absentees.

Punch Gunalan, secretary of the Asian Badminton Confederation
(ABC), deplored the absence of many world-ranked players in the
championship as disappointing but he said he understood their
decision because the event did not offer world-ranking points,
necessary to boost their qualifying bid for the 2004 Olympics in
Athens.

"Some countries will prefer to send their players to other
championships, such as the Hong Kong open in late October, to
pushing them to pursue ranking points that they need to qualify
for next year's Olympic Games.

"Even more disappointing was that the Chinese squad withdrew
their players over the weekend, after the seeding list and match
schedule had already been established," he said.

"We can understand their position but don't encourage
participants to withdraw at the last minute. Therefore, we shall
take some appropriate action," he said.

Gunalan said that ABC would penalize the Chinese through fines
or other sanctions.

The Jakarta meet has been deprived of Olympics points because
there will be two editions of the Asia championships within the
qualifying period for the 2004 Athens Games. The subsequent event
will be in April, 2004, with the venue yet to be decided.

The Jakarta swing includes about 250 players from 24
countries.

The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) does not seem to
have lost its interest in the tournament, with PBSI chairman
Chairul Tanjung saying that the event would be a warm-up field
ahead of larger events that Indonesia will host: the Thomas Cup
and Uber Cup.

"After the final matches, we shall hold a farewell ceremony
for one of Indonesia's best players, Hendrawan," he said.
Hendrawan, 2000 Olympic silver medalist, announced his retirement
from badminton two weeks ago.

In Wednesday's first round, Sony and Taufik are expected to
face few difficulties against Pakistani Ahsan Qamar and Zulkifli
MD Saleh of Brunei Darussalam.