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ASIAN #1's DOMINATE TOP SPOTS IN OLYMPIC SEEDINGS
JAKARTA: August 24, 2000
Taufik Hidajat rounded off an Asian sweep of the top seeds at next month's Sydney Olympic Games. The 19 year
old Indonesian men's singles star leads a group of players who are all atop this week's JVC Asian Badminton Rankings and also the IBF World Rankings. Taufik is joined by Indonesian compatriots in men's doubles,
Candra Wijaya & Tony Gunawan as well as Chinese ladies' players, Gong Zhichao in singles and perrennial stars Ge Fei & Gu Jun in doubles. The South Korean pair of Kim Dong Moon & Ra Kyung Min overtook
the first position in mixed doubles this week just in time for the Olympic seeding cutoff date at the end of August. These players are now Asia's best hopes for gold medals at the Olympic games and are tipped to
finish in the top position for the JVC Asian Badminton Championships in Jakarta this November.
Men's Singles
As Indonesia's brightest rising star, Hidajat is carrying the mantle well. Victories at the 5 star Indonesia and Malaysiaevents has catapulted him into the world's #1
spot for the first time. He moved ahead of compatriot, Hendrawan, who now occupies the second spots on this week's JVC Rankings. The middle positions remain largely unchanged, however, strong play from
Malaydia's Ong Ewe Hock, who made it to the finals at the Indonesiaand semi's at the Malaysiahas moved up to the 7th spot this week. The biggest story of all is India's Puella Gopichand who's best
performance came at last week's Malaysiawhere he lost in the semi's to eventual champion, Taufik Hidajat. However, Gopichand, who is in Asia's elite 10 for the first time, is playing at his peak going into
the Olympics.Ladies' Singles
Gong Zhichao has made her mark on the JVC Asian Badminton Rankings this year with consistent play. She has been atop the rankings since early in the year
when she overtook the position from team mate Dai Yun. Yun, after a slow early part of the year has come on strong when it counts just prior to the Olympics and won the Malaysialast week to overtake Ye
Zhaoying for this week's #2 spot. Aside from the Chinese stars who occupy the positions 1 - 5 on this week's JVC Rankings, non-Chinese medal hopes lie with Japan's Yasuko Mizui and South Korea's Kim Ji Hyun who
also recently had strong outings at the Malaysiaand are currently in the 6th and 7th positions respectively. This weeks' biggest mover is 1996 World Cup Champion, Wang Chen, who now competes for Hong Kong
China and is in Asia's top 10 for the first time since 1999.Men's Doubles
With last week's #2 pair from South Korea, Kim Dong Moon & Ha Tae Kwon losing in the first round of the Malaysiadropping them down to the 4th position, Indonesia's Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan were assured of the top spot going into the Olympics. The only question was who would be in second place behind them.
It looked certain to be South Korea's Lee Dong Soo & Yoo Yung Sung who have been just behind their compatriots all year. However, Indonesia's Flandy Limpele & Eng Hian made the biggest jump in JVC Asian
Rankings history when they defeated Lee/Yoo in the finals of the Malaysia The Indonesian pair jumped from 8th position to the #2 spot this week and assured an easier draw for themselves in the Olympics.Ladies' Doubles
No significant movement this week in the ladies' doubles rankings with Ge Fei & Gu Jun set to lead the way into the Olympic Games. Compatriots Huang
Nanyan & Yang Wei gave their seniors a run for their money at the Malaysiafinals, and had been closing in on the top spot in Asia and the world, however their loss moved them further back into second
place. Again South Korea is Asia's second hope for a medal at the Olympics in this category with Ra Kyung Min & Chung Jae Hee in the third spot this week. Mixed Doubles
Kim Dong Moon & Ra Kyung Min controlled their own destiny defeating Trikus Heryanto & Minarti Timur of Indonesia last week at the Malaysia The Indonesians had occupied the top position
in mixed doubles, however, their loss put the South Korean pair on top going into the Olympics. This is just the type of momentum the South Koreans need to carry them through to the gold medal as they accumulated
an amazing 71 IBF Grand Prix points at the Malaysiato move six ahead of Trikus/Minarti. These two pairs have distanced themselves from the rest of the field as even Liu Yong & Ge Fei lag far behind in
the third spot.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. |
