Top seeds cruise into second round at Indonesia Open

JAKARTA (JP): Most top seeds romped through their first round outings in the US$120,000 Sanyo Indonesia Open Badminton Championships on Wednesday, but it was rough going for Denmark's heavily favored men's stars.

Roni Agustinus of Indonesia celebrated his promotion to the country's badminton elite by upsetting Denmark's 1992 Olympic bronze medalist Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen 15-5, 15-7, at the Senayan Indoor Stadium in Central Jakarta.

Local men's doubles team of Karel Mainaky and Nova Widiarto joined a glorious day for home shuttlers with a 15-7, 11-15, 15- 10 defeat of Danes Michael Sogaard and Janek Roos.

Karel, young brother of Olympic gold medalist Rexy Mainaky and Thomas Cupper Marlev, was returning to competition after a recent bout with typhoid.

Ninth seed Stuer-Lauridsen, the 1992 Olympic semifinalist, seemed unable to find his form after a long lay-off with an ankle injury, his coach Kenneth Larsen said.

The departure of Stuer-Lauridsen left 1996 Olympic gold medalist Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen as the lone Danish hope in the men's singles.

Second seed Hoyer-Larsen received a first-round bye and will start his campaign on Thursday, along with Indonesian top seed Hendrawan.

The lanky Dane faces Edo Bernardus of Indonesia, while Hendrawan meets junior player Adriansyah, who received a walkover win over Indonesian compatriot Rizki Abadi.

Former world champion Hariyanto Arbi of Indonesia booked a place in the second round by beating Malaysian rookie James Chua 15-9, 15-8. Another Indonesian, Indra Wijaya, made short work of Boopsak Polsana of Thailand 15-3, 15-7.

Last year's losing finalist Marlev advanced safely to the second round with clear-cut 15-0, 15-7 win over promising young talent Taufiq Hidayat.

"It's just a warm-up for me. I hope I can go through to the final as I did last year," said Marlev, whose loss to Ardy Wiranata in Surakarta, Central Java, last year gave the latter his sixth title in the tournament.

Ardy has since retired and is coaching the U.S. Olympic badminton squad.

In the women's singles, second seed Dane Mette Sorensen raced through an 11-5, 11-3 win over local shuttler Felsinka.

Top seed Mia Audina begins her campaign on Thursday against compatriot AA Metri.

In the men's doubles, top seeded Candra Wijaya/Tony Gunawan of Indonesia, who won the Swedish Open, defeated their junior compatriots, Wijanarko/Adi Susanto 15-3, 15-1. Veterans Ricky Subagja/Rexy Mainaky, the 1996 Olympic men's doubles gold medalists, beat Boonsak Polsana/Krid Chuaynarong of Thailand 15- 3, 15-11.

National Training Center Director Christian Hadinata said the local men's duos must pay attention to Danes Jens Eriksen/Jesper Larsen who beat local rookies Andreas/Luluk 15-3, 15-12.

"Our men's doubles must not underestimate the Malaysian and Danish doubles. Eriksen/Larsen defeated Denny Kantono/Antonius at the Grand Prix Finals."

The event, which was originally scheduled in Manado, North Sulawesi, in August, only has competitors from seven countries of Denmark, England, Poland, Malaysia, Brunei Darussalam, Thailand and Indonesia.

Badminton powerhouse China is absent for the second consecutive year. Indonesia produced a clean sweep of all five titles in Surakarta last year. (yan)

Selected results

Men's singles: Hariyanto Arbi (Ina) bt James Chua (Mal) 15-9, 15-8 Taufik Hidayat (Ina) bt Sindoro Aditya (Ina) 15-12, 15-2 Yong Hock Kin (Mal) bt Agung Kuncoro (Ina) 15-4, 15-2 Yeoh Kay Bin (Mal) bt Markis Kido (Ina) 17-16, 15-3 Jeffer Rosobin (Ina) bt Krid Chuaynarong (Tha) 15-5, 15-7 Roni Agustinus (Ina) bt Thomas Stuer Lauridsen (Den) 15-5, 15-7 Marlev Mainaky (Ina) bt Taufiq Hidayat (Ina) 15-0, 15-7 Indra Wijaya (Ina) bt Boopsak Polsana (Tha) 15-3, 15-7

Women's singles: Cindana (Ina) bt Siska Yunita (Ina) 11-0, 11-0 Ellen Angelina (Ina) bt Biniawati (Ina) 11-6, 11-0 Meiluawati (Ina) bt Ernawati (Ina) 11-1, 11-2 Lydia Djaelawidjaya (Ina) bt Yustina (Ina) 11-2, 11-1 Mette Sorensen (Den) bt Felsinka (Ina) 11-5, 11-3

Men's doubles: Candra Wijaya/Tony G. (Ina) bt Wijanarko/Adi Susanto 15-3, 15-1 Ricky Subagja/Rexy Mainaky (Ina) bt Boonsak Polsana/Krid Chuaynarong 15-3, 15-11 Karel Mainaky/Nova Widiarto (Ina) bt Michael Sogaard/Janek Roos (Den) 15-7, 11-15, 15-10 Antonius/Denny Kantono (Ina) bt Firmansyah/Unang (Ina) 15-5, 15-6 Jens Eriksen/J. Larsen (Den) bt Andreas/Luluk (Ina) 15-3, 15-12 Lee Wan Wah/Chew Choon Eng (Mal) bt David Pohan/Jimmy Pohan (Ina) 15-13, 15-4 Flandy Limpele/Eng Hiang (Ina) bt Cin/Cahyanto (Ina) 15-2, 15-8

Women's doubles: Lily Tampi/Finarsih (Ina) bt Fitria Yusnita/Linda Novianti (Ina) 15-5, 15-3

Mixed doubles: Lily Tampi/Dwi Kurnia Jaya (Ina) bt Farlanur/Agnia (Ina) 15-5, 9- 15, 15-8