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INDONESIA, CHINA BACK ON TOP OF ASIAN BADMINTON
JAKARTA: August 1, 2000
For the time being, it appears that Indonesia and China have regained ground recently lost to South Korea, Malaysia
and Japan ahead of the Malaysia Indonesia sits on top of the Men's Singles, Men's Doubles and Mixed Doubles categories while China's women continue to dominate both the Ladies' Singles and Doubles
categories. Until recent weeks, Malaysia's men, Japan's ladies and both sides of South Korea's team had made serious inroads into the top of the JVC Asian Badminton Rankings. Timing couldn't be better for
Indonesia and China leading up to the Olympic games in Sydney this September.
Men's Singles
Hendrawan, after his
victory in the Thailast month, has taken over the Men's Singles category from early leader Wong Choong Hann of Malaysia. Wong has fallen down to the fourth position behind youngster Taufik Hidajat of
Indoneisa and Xia Xuanze of China. Taufik, at only 19 years of age, is the youngest player in the top 10 of any category in the JVC Asian Badminton Rankings. Another Indonesian, Marleve Mainaky, is just
behind Ji Xipeng of China in the sixth position. This means that each of Indonesia's top three victorious Thomas Cup singles players are in this week's top 10! The biggest surprise is Hyun Il Lee from South
Korea who is currently in the ninth position and the first Korean player in the top 10 for Asia over the past two years.Ladies' Singles
China, South Korea and Japan have a firm hold of the
ladies' singles category occupying all of the top 10 positions. China dominates the top of the table led by Gong Zhichao in the #1 spot followed by compatriots Ye Zhaoying, Dai Yun, Gong Ruina and Zhao Mi.
South Koreans Kim Ji Hyun and Lee Kyung Won follow in sixth and seventh places and the three Japanese stars, Yasuko Mizui, Kanako Yonekura and Takako Ida round out the top ten. It appears that the Chinese
have this category well tied up, however, it's a long time from now until the JVC ABC event in November where the #1 seeds will be crowned.Men's Doubles
Back to Indonesian supremacy at the top of
the Men's Doubles rankings this week with Candra Wijaya/Tony Gunawan leading the way after their victory in the recent Indonesia 1999 JVC Asian Rankings champions from South Korean, Ha Tae Kwon/Kim
Dong Moon follow in second with compatriots Lee Dong Soo/Yoo Yong Sung in third position. Ricky Subagja/Rexy Mainaky, currently the second of five Indonesian pairs in the top ten, still have strong hopes of ending
the Asian year on top as they have moved into the fourth position. The biggest movers of the week are the third Indonesian pairing of Halim Haryanto/Sigit Budiarto who moved into the rankings in the seventh
position.Ladies' Doubles
China again leads the way in Ladies' Doubles with perennial superstars Ge Fei/Gu Jun on top of the world and Asia. Compatriots, Huang Nanyan/Yang Wei took a
step towards the top moving from third into second place this week surpassing the top South Korean pair of Ra Kyung Min/Chung Jae Hee who fall into third this week. Etty Tantri/Cynthia Tuwankotta of Indonesia continue
their rise up the rankings and are currently in sixth position after making it into the semi finals at the Indonesia Top Japanese pair, Haruko Matsuda/Yoshiko Iwata, remain in the ninth position and are
still their country's best hopes for a medal at the Olympics and the JVC Asian Championships later this year.Mixed Doubles
The most volatile category, Mixed Doubles appears to
be anybody's game. Indonesians Trikus Heryanto/Minarti Timur moved into the top spot this week after being in third last month. However, it is difficult to overlook Liu Yong/Ge Fei of China or last year's
Mixed Doubles champions Kim Dong Moon/Ra Kyung Min of South Korea who are currently in second and third place respectively. Mixed Doubles has the greatest variety of countries represented and the Thai pair,
Khunakorn Sudhisodhi/Saralee Thunthongkam moved up from 10th to 8th position this week after their strong performance at home in the Thai Newcomers in the rankings this week are the young Malaysian pair of
Chong Ming Chan/Joanna Swee L.All players finishing the season in the #1 position on the JVC Asian Badminton Rankings will receive USD 1,000 and a JVC product. These prizes will be given out at the JVC
Asian Badminton Championships to all players finishing in the #1 position on the JVC Asian Rankings therefore qualifying them as the #1 seeded players at the JVC Asian Badminton Championships.
JVC Asian Badminton Rankings are collected from the IBF's world rankings released weekly.
Issued by International Management
Group, Jakarta on behalf of the Asian Badminton Confederation. If you require more information,
please contact Ms. Maya Hidajat of IMG Jakarta at Tel: ,
Fax: or E-mail:
mhidajat. |
