Top seed shuttlers crash on first day of GP Finals

By Primastuti Handayani

DENPASAR, Bali (JP): Top seeds Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark and China's Dong Jiong surprisingly crashed against little-known opponents on the opening day of the round-robin matches in the Lipton World Grand Prix Badminton Finals here yesterday.

Rising Indonesian star Indra Wijaya stole a bit of the thunder when he gunned down China's number one Dong 15-12 15-5 in a match spoiled by a leaking roof during a thunder storm outside the Juana Mandala Stadium.

The leak took its toll on defending champion and Indonesia's top player, Joko Suprianto, who injured his right thigh when he stepped on a wet patch in the deciding set against Chen Gang.

Joko lost 11-15 in the first set but fought back and came-from-behind to win the second set 17-14. He finished the delayed third set 15-9. Heavy rain then forced the organizers to halt proceedings for two hours.

Joko told The Jakarta Post after the match that if the injury has not healed by today he would withdraw from the tournament.

Olympic gold medalist Hoyer-Larsen lost to Chinese Hu Zhilan 13-15, 15-12, 15-18.

From the onset Hoyer-Larsen failed to perform his usual mesmerizing technical skills against Hu in the US$350,000 annual event. He often lost control of the shuttle and made many unforced errors. Hu, on the other hand, was able to control the shuttle throughout.

"I know that I didn't play well today but I'll try my best tomorrow to achieve a better result," Hoyer-Larsen said.

In the second set, the 31-year-old Dane fought from behind to win the set 15-12. But he failed to capitalize on his chances in the deciding set and lost it 15-18.

Strong wind

But Hoyer-Larsen said the strong wind in the stadium was not the reason for his loss.

"Everybody has to deal with the wind," he said.

The 31-year-old Dane's next opponent is rookie Budi Santoso of Indonesia, finalist in the 1996 Indonesia Open.

Hu said: "I won today because Poul-Erik played bad. I know that he rarely practiced after the Olympics. I'm not very proud with it," he said.

Hu is to meet Alan Budikusuma, the 1992 Olympic gold medalist, today.

"Alan is a favorite player at home, it'll be hard to beat him. But I've never played against Budi, so my chance will be 50-50," he commented.

Dong said that his performance was not very good because it was his first match.

"Besides, the Indonesian shuttler played very well and he was very strong," Dong said.

Indra said that he was very surprised that he won the match so easily.

"Dong's performance was not very good and I put him under pressure as told to by coaches Triaji and Tong Sin Fu," said the 23-year-old player.

Indra complained that the wind gave him trouble in controlling the shuttle.

Selected results: Men's singles: Dong Jiong (Chn) v Indra Wijaya (Ina) 12-15, 5-15 Alan Budikusuma (Ina) v Budi Santoso (Ina) 6-15, 15-7, 15-10 Poul-Erik H-Larsen (Den) v Hu Zhilan (Chn) 13-15, 15-12, 15-18 Rashid Sidek (Mas) v Soren B Nielsen (Den) 15-10, 15-1 Ong Ewe Hock (Mas) v T Stuer-Lauridsen (Den) 12-15, 15-11, 15-4 Joko Suprianto (Ina) bt Chen Gang (Chn) 11-15 17-14 15-9

Women's singles: Mia Audina (Ina) v Christina Gandrup (Swe) 11-3, 11-1 Ye Zhaoying (Chn) v Yao Yan (Chn) 11-7, 11-1 Wang Chen (Chn) v Lidya Djaelawidjaya (Ina) 11-1, 13-11

Men's doubles: Cheah Soon Kit/Yap Kim Hock (Mas) v Peter Axelsson/Par-Gunnar Jonsson 15-12, 6-15, 15-5

Women's doubles: Eliza/Zelin Rosiana (Ina) v Helene Kirkegaard/Rikke Olsen (Den) 15-12, 15-6 Ge Fei/Gu Jun (Chn) v Nicola Beck/Joanne Davies (Gbr) 15-4, 15-0

Mixed doubles: Flandy Limpele/Risyeu Rosalina (Ina) v Nick Ponting/Joanne Goode (Gbr) 10-15, 8-15