Top players skip Indonesia Open

The Jakarta Post , Jakarta | Tue, 06/10/2008 10:21 AM | Sports

Most of the world's top players will skip the Djarum Indonesia Open Super Series, being held June 17-22 at the Bung Karno sports hall in Senayan, Central Jakarta, to prepare for the Beijing Olympics.

Tournament organizers said here Monday that China would not send world No. 1s Lin Dan and Xie Xingfang to tournament. Also giving the US$250,000 Djarum event a miss are in-form world No. 8 Lee Hyun Il and world No. 9 Park Sung Hwan, both of South Korea.

"Despite their absence, I hope that the event will not lose its charm because some good players will still take part in the competition," said Mimi Irawan, head of tournaments at the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI).

Malaysian world No. 2 Lee Chong Wei, China's world No. 2 Bao Chunlai and Denmark's Peter Gade will all be in Jakarta, presenting a tough challenge for Indonesian aces Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Taufik Hidayat in the men's singles.

In the women's singles, China's world No. 3 Zhang Ning, world No. 5 Wang Chen of Hong Kong and Denmark's world No. 7 Tine Rasmussen will be the top seeds, with the host's best bet being world No. 25 Maria Kristin Yulianti.

Maria said the tournament would be tough despite the absence of some top players.

"China still has Zhang Ning and world No. 4 Zhu Lin, while Denmark will play All England champ Tine Rasmussen," she said, adding that she had lost to all of those players in previous matches.

Maria said she aimed to make the semifinals of the event, which will feature about 200 players from 27 countries.

PBSI chairman Sutiyoso said the tournament was the last chance for Indonesian shuttlers to prepare for the Aug. 8-24 Olympic Games in Beijing.

"I hope that our players can learn something about the strengths of their would-be opponents in the Games through this event," he said at a press conference here.