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Players smelling opportunity at Open in absence of Chinese
Organizers of the Djarum Indonesia Open badminton tournament are confident the quality of competitors will be high when the tournament kicks off later this month despite the absence of Chinese players
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rganizers of the Djarum Indonesia Open badminton tournament are confident the quality of competitors will be high when the tournament kicks off later this month despite the absence of Chinese players.
Players from China, which has the best shuttlers in the world at the moment, have decided to skip the US$250,000 super series event due to a calendar clash with their national league.
The organizers said Tuesday that the tournament would feature some of the world’s top players from 30 countries, including South Korea, Malaysia, Japan, Thailand, Finland and Denmark. The competition will be held at the Senayan sports complex from June 22-27.
Competitors at the event, especially Indonesian players, are likely to fancy their chances of success with the absence of China's stars, said Indonesian national coach Christian Hadinata on Tuesday.
“For Indonesia for example, we have a greater opportunity to win in all of five events, but we still
have to watch out for the Koreans, who have stronger players in mixed doubles and men's doubles as
well as Malaysia, who are strong in men's single and men's doubles,” he said.
Defending champion Lee Chong Wei of South Korea will be eying the threats of world number five Taufik Hidayat, world number seven Nguyen Tien Minh of Vietnam and Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana in the main draw as the biggest obstacles in his path to retaining the title.
Indian Saina Nehwal, who was a surprise winner in the women’s singles last year at the expense of world number three Lin Wang of China, has confirmed she will defend her title.
However, the current world number six will face stiff competition from world number seven Tine Rasmussen of Denmark, world number nine Zhou Mi of Hong Kong and world number eight Pi Hongyan of France.
Indonesia's Maria Kristin, who was a finalist in 2008, and world number 19 Maria Febe are also
expected to go deep into the tournament.
The last Indonesian woman to claim the singles title was Ellen Angelina in 2001.
This year will be the last time Indonesia host the open as a Super Series event, as the competition next year will be upgraded to a badminton grand slam or Premier Super Series event.
The upgrade to the second-highest competition ranking in the sport will likely see the tournament attract more players, while the prize kitty will shoot up to $600,000.
The Badminton World Federation (BWF) has selected five countries as hosts of badminton premium super series for the next three years including Korea, Indonesia, China, England and Denmark.
Korea offers the highest prize money of $1.2 million, Indonesia offers $600,000 and China, England and Denmark have declared they will offer $350,000 each.
“This is a road to the premier super series and we aim to make badminton in this country comparable to soccer in Brazil,” said Handojo, the chairman of the organizing committee.
Most of these players will take part in the Singapore Open which will run from June 15-20, before heading for Jakarta.
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