Indonesia’s singles shuttlers make good start in Paris

Indonesian men’s singles shuttler Taufik Hidayat and his women’s singles compatriot Adrianti Firdasari had a smooth start at the opening of the World Badminton Championships in Paris on Monday.

Fifth-seed Taufik swept up after 24-minutes, sidelining Ola Fagbemi of Nigeria 21-10, 21-10. The world No. 5 will likely next meet Taiwanese Yu Hsin Hsieh, who faced Portugese Pedro Martins on Monday evening.

Taufik’s probable quarterfinal opponent, world top men’s shuttler Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia also breezed through his first round match against Guatemala’s Kevin Cordon 21-7, 21-11.

Top seed Lee will face a trickier second round clash against compatriot Muhammad Hafiz Hashim, who was ranked world 21 and All-England champion in 2003.

Lee’s toughest contender, third seed Lin Dan, the only shuttler able to snatch three world championship gold medals in 2006, 2007 and 2009 had no hurdle in advancing to second round, beating Ali Shahhosseini of Iran 21-4, 21-10.

Danish veteran Peter Gade is feeling relaxed despite once again carrying the burden of Europe’s title hopes.

“I know I’m going to be the main player from Europe to do something,” the reigning European champion told Reuters on Sunday. “I know that pressure. It’s been like that for many years. It’s not something new.”

No European has won the men’s world title since Peter Rasmussen of Denmark in 1997. But that doesn’t deter Gade.

“I still have a gold medal to chase,” Gade said. “I’m here in a very good form. I’ve shown in past years that on a good day I’m able to beat anybody.”

Gade is the only European ranked in the top 10 and the last player to have defeated world champion Lin Dan of China.

The No.2 seed was helped somewhat by a draw, as Lin and top-ranked Lee of Malaysia shared the top half of the bracket. Gade got more good news Sunday when event organizers announced last year’s world’s bronze medallist Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia would withdraw due to a back injury.

“With Kuncoro’s withdrawal, some things have opened up in the bottom half of the draw,” Gade said. “A lot of things can happen at the worlds, you never know.”

Gade will play Daniel Paiola of Brazil in the first round and feels confident in his fitness.

In the women’s singles, 20-year-old Saina Nehwal of India is in the midst of a breakthrough season, but is feeling more pressure than Gade.

The second-seeded Nehwal will try to break the dominance of China, which has won the last six world titles.

Nehwal got a bye into the second round where she will face Chen Hsiao-huan of Taiwan. Nehwal has a 2-0 record against Chen.

Meanwhile, Indonesia with two mainstays in the women singles had a a smooth start as Adrianti advanced to the second round.

Unseeded Adrianti sidelined Ky Michelle Chan of New Zealand 21-11, 21-16 in half an hour. She will likely face 16th seed South Korean Kim Moon-hi, whose match against Telma Santos of Portugal set off late Monday.

Adrianti’s compatriot, Maria Febe Kusumastuti beat Russian Bibiktatjana in a 40-minute straight game of 21-11, 23-21.

The championships at Stade Pierre de Coubertin indoor arena in Paris will finish on Aug. 29.