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Heryanto Arbi back on track
October 11, 2001 - Source : IBF
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 The former 1995 World Champion, Heryanto Arbi, is back on the world circuit. After a win over Lee Tsuen Seng in the Malaysianthis summer, he was looking to get back to his best level - day one of the Hollandgave him this opportunity.
Eindhoven welcomes the Rutac Hollandfor the first time, and one could say that the Indoor Sportcentrum is amongst the Netherlands' best sports halls. Its setting could actually welcome more than one badminton event at the same time, as the courts themselves take only a small part of the overall space (pictured).
But if many of the players had to adjust their games to the height and difference of lighting, it wasn't the case for Heryanto Arbi, maybe because he's had so much experience in so many different halls. The former World Champion, now 29-years-old, is eager to get back to his best level. "I have a new sponsor since March, and now I can train in good conditions, part-time with my club in Jakarta, part-time as a sparring partner in the National Training Centre. And I feel like I'm getting back good feelings on court," said the Indonesian.
His world ranking has made him go through the qualification stages for all the tournaments he's been playing since his recovery from injury. Maybe this is why he didn't go much further than the second round of the Malaysian after a brilliant win over Lee Tsuen Seng of Malaysia. "I still need to play as many matches as I can in order to improve my level, even though I feel quite fit for the moment. My deal with my sponsor is to play at least 8 Grand Prix events. And my goal is to win one of them," said Arbi (pictured).
The late withdrawal of many players has helped him in this matter, and he could get into the main draw directly, to play a qualifier in the first round. Slovenian Hrovat couldn''t do much against Arbi's good vision of the game and the Indonesian managed to preserve some energy for Thursday''s matches - two rounds, should he get through the next one. Arbi also counts on the new scoring system: "It's good for me, because I can't run forever like a 20-year-old," he adds in a laugh.
Day one brought few surprises on court, as all seeded players had a bye and it was only a "singles" day. However, it was just a bad day for Dutch ladies: Brenda Beenhakker's easy loss to Indian Meenakshi was a shock to local fans. Fans which probably didn't like much more the early exit of Karina De Wit to Li Wenyan, in four games, nor when Lonneke Janssen lost to Tracey Hallam. The local hopes stand on the shoulders of top seed Mia Audina and Judith Meulendijks.
But the main news of the day came from the number of withdrawals which have occurred, sometimes very late. "We had all the Japanese team which cancelled because they didn't want to take any risks by flying after the US attacks. Then we had some injuries, which really gave us trouble with the draw," said Referee Ernest Robinson.
Oliver Pongratz, Indian Gupta, Jim Ronny Andersen, Kasper Oedum from Denmark, Anu Weckstrom, Katja Michalowsky and Eng Hian and Flandi Limpele are amongst the late withdrawals, leaving some space for the lucky qualifiers to enter the main draw.
But even some of the local players had some trouble getting to the stadium. "A huge car accident happened on the road to the stadium, and it was hardly possible for the players to get out of the traffic jam," said Robinson. "They had to make a diversion for the cars, which had to be taken on the other side of the river by boat. Five players were stuck and it took over 4 hours for some to get here," added the French Referee.
Yet, one of these player had a better idea: "I knew that I couldn't make it on time, so I decided to go on my own. I walked a bit, then I asked someone I didn't know if they could take me to the nearest train station. Once there, as I was talking on my cell phone, the train left just as I had one foot on board, one still on the platform!" said Jie Yao (pictured), a Chinese born who has been playing in a Dutch club for two years. But all ended well, as she was able to take the next train, and finally arrive long before her teammates - only half an hour late.
"It was a little troubling, but I could still play my match and win," she explained. And she did more than just win one match, as the tall Chinese came through the qualifying rounds, but also beat Aparna Popat quite severely in the first round 7/0 - 7/3 - 7/2.
Thursday should be a quieter day - that is if she gets past her friend Judith Meulendijks - but it will also see the entrance of the big guns and all doubles events.
Latest Results:
Men's Singles
Men's Singles Qualifying
Women's Singles
Women's Singles Qualifying
Men's Doubles
Men's Doubles Qualifying
Women's Doubles
Women's Doubles Qualifying
Mixed Doubles
Report and pictures by Raphael Sachetat
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» Memories of… the 2002 Thomas and Uber Cup Finals
» Gopi to lead India in Commonwealth Games
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