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Monday, September 4
Indonesians led by world's No. 1 ranked player
Reuters
SYDNEY, Australia -- Led by their newest star, Taufik
Hidayat, badminton-crazed Indonesia has entered the most
players in the badminton competition at the Sydney Olympics,
organizers said on Monday.
Indonesia has 19 men and women in the event, one more than
arch rivals China and Denmark.
The three countries and South Korea are the favorites for
most of the gold medals in the tournament, which runs from
Sept. 16 to Sept. 23.
South Korea and Britain have 12 players each.
Hidayat took the men's world No. 1 ranking from
Denmark's Peter Gade Christensen by winning the Malaysian Open
last month, shortly after his 19th birthday. The Danes missed
the Malaysian tournament because of their Olympic preparations.
Also on Denmark's team is defending Olympic champion
Poul-Erik Hoyer Larsen, whose victory in the men's singles in
Atlanta four years ago made him the only player from outside
China, South Korea and Indonesia to have won an Olympic
badminton gold.
Hidayat's teammate Hendrawan, ranked third in the world,
and China's world No. 4 Xia Xuanze are the other gold
medal contenders in the men's singles.
Hendrawan, who beat Hidayat in a training match last week,
played down his chances of winning in Sydney.
"Let's not talk about my target at the Olympics. Everybody
has equal chances there. All I can say is that I am well
prepared," he was quoted on Monday as saying in the Jakarta
Post.
Since only the top eight players in the world are seeded,
one of the top players could come up in the opening round
against current world champion Sun Jun of China, who is not
ranked.
China has entered world No. 1 Gong Zhichao, Dai Yun
and Ye Zhaoying in the women's singles, and they are expected
to battle Denmark's Camilla Martin for the gold medal.
Martin, ranked No. 2 in the world, upset Dai to take
the world title in Copenhagen last year.
Reigning world champions Kim Dong Moon and Ha Tae Kwon of
South Korea are expected to challenge defending Olympic
champions Rexy Mainaky and Ricky Subagja in the men's doubles.
Defending Olympic champions Ge Fei and Gu Jun of China, who
have been playing together for 16 years, are heavily favored
in the women's doubles. They have won the last two world
championships.
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