Proton Eon Malaysia Open 2003 : PREVIEW
The absence of several top Indonesians has improved the chances of the Malaysian shuttlers to win honours in their home Open tournament.
Taufik Hidayat, who won the Indonesian Open men's singles title in Batam on Sunday, is not taking part in the US$120,000 Malaysian Open, which begins tomorrow at the Likas Sports Complex in Kota Kinabalu.
In his absence, Indonesia will bank on Rony Agustinus, Budi Santoso and two juniors Taufiq Akbar Hidayat and Sony Dwi Kuncoro. Except for the 19-year-old Sony, who can rise to the occasion on a good day, the other three are not seen as title contenders.
Indonesia’s strength for the four-star tournament was further diluted yesterday with the withdrawal of second seeds and 2000 Malaysian Open men's doubles champions Flandi Limpele-Eng Hian. They have been replaced by Luluk Hadiyanto-Alven Yulianto.
The other Indonesian pairs in the fray are Candra Wijaya-Halim Haryanto and Sigit Budiarto-Trikus Hariyanto. Although these four players are known for their versatility to pair up with each other, the scratch combinations were unimpressive in the Indonesian Open.
Candra-Halim lost to Thailand's Pramote Teerawiwatana-Tesana Panvisvas in the semi-finals while Sigit-Trikus were beaten by Malaysia's Chan Chong Ming-Chew Choon Eng in the third round.
There was another setback to the men's doubles competition with the last-minute withdrawal of Indonesian Open runners-up Pramote-Tesana, who were seeded third in the Malaysian Open.
Malaysia will be aiming to win the men's singles title for the third consecutive time in a row and regain the men's doubles crown after a lapse of six years.
The previous two men's singles champions were Ong Ewe Hock and James Chua while Cheah Soon Kit-Yap Kim Hock were the doubles winners in 1996.
World Championships runner-up Wong Choong Hann will be Malaysia's best bet in the men's singles. The others national players in the fray are Lee Tsuen Seng, Lee Chong Wei and the Hashim brothers, Roslin and Hafiz.
Choong Hann, who was the runner-up in the 1999 Malaysian Open, said: “My aim is to reach at least the semi-finals. With Taufik out, there is one fewer hurdle to clear. But I will not under-estimate their juniors. China and Denmark also have strong contenders for the title.”
China have world champion Xia Xuanze, Singapore Open winner and Indonesian Open runner-up Chen Hong and youngsters Bao Chunlai and Lin Dan.
Lee Hyun-il is South Korea's trump card while Denmark have Peter Gade-Christensen, Kenneth Jonassen and former world champion Peter Rasmussen.
In the men's doubles, China have put themselves as strong contenders for the title following Sang Yang-Zheng Bo's first-ever victory in the Indonesian Open.
Denmark have world champions Jonas Rasmussen-Lars Paaske while South Korea will bank on the scratch pair of Lee Dong-soo-Kim Dong-moon.
Malaysia will be represented by Singapore and Indonesian Open semi-finalists Chong Tan Fook-Lee Wan Wah and Chan Chong Ming-Chew Choon Eng.
Chang Kim Wai, whose partner Hong Chieng Hun is injured, will compete in the Malaysian Open after all. He will team up with Lim Woon Fui, whose partner Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari suffered an ankle injury in training yesterday.
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