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Wijaya on course for first ever GP win in Hong Kong
September 26, 2001 - Source : IBF
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 Singapore will be hoping for singles honours at this week's Chinese Bank Hong Kong(25-30 September) with both Indra Wijaya and Ronald Susilo seeded and gunning for their first ever World Grand Prix titles.
Wijaya - brother of Olympic doubles champion Candra - came close to a first GP win back in 1997 when, representing his native Indonesia, he lost to Heryanto Arbi in the final of the Konica Cup (Singapore.
Four years on, the 27-year-old will be hoping for a happy ending, as he's the tournament's top seed and has enjoyed some confidence-boosting performances lately. He reached the quarter-finals of the Singaporeand the semi-finals of the Asian Championships in August, plus the semi-finals of the 5* Youngor Super China Grand Prix just last week.
But Wijaya's first hurdle could be a tricky one, as he's drawn to meet Ng Wei of Hong Kong in his first match - after beating World Champion Hendrawan in China last week, an over-confident Ronald Susilo (seeded eighth in Hong Kong) lost to Ng in the second round.
Shon Seung Mo, seeded second, should breeze through to the quarter-finals - his first match is against Chun Yu Pang of Hong Kong, and then either Japan's Shoji Sato, Kennevic Asuncion of the Philippines, or local boy Hoi Tak Lam.
Thailand's Boonsak Polsana will be looking to make up for a disappointing outing in Ningbo last week, where he lost in the first round to qualifier Luo Yigang, currently ranked 119th in the world, compared with Polsana's 30th.
Now third favourite for the title, following the withdrawal of Indonesia''s Johan Hadikusuma, Polsana should also have a clean run through to at least the quarter-final stage.
Korea's Jun Jae Youn - who reached the semi-finals of the USearlier this month - is the top seed in the women's singles event, with new SEA Games gold medallist Sujitra Ekmongkolpaisarn oif Thailand the second favourite.
Both players should easily reach the semi-finals, where they are drawn to meet Wai Chee Louisa Koon of Hong Kong and England's Tracey Hallam respectively.
Number one seeds Lee Dong Soo and Yoo Yong Sung will also be hoping for an impressive run in the men's doubles to counter-act their disappointing show in China last week where they lost to Denmark's Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larsen in the first round. The Olympic silver medallists have had a quiet year - the Hong Kongwill be just their fifth tournament in 2001.
Challenging at the opposite end of the draw, second seeds Jeremy Gan and Ng Kean Kok will be looking for a convincing run to add to their quarter-finals berth in the Asian Championships.
Asian Champions and Seville silver medallists Kim Dong Moon and Ra Kyung Min look almost certain of victory in the mixed doubles. On past performance, the 1999 world title winners are streets ahead of their nearest rivals - second seeded Kwun Yuen Yau and Wan Ting Ling - and will be looking for their second GP title of the year to add to their Koreawin.
Singapore's Zhen Liu and Luxi Xiao top the women's doubles seeding list, with Thailand's Saralee Thungthongkam and Sathinee Chankrachangwong as number two seeds.
Draws:
Men's Singles
Women's Singles
Women's Singles (qualifying)
Men's Doubles
Women's Doubles
Mixed Doubles
Seeds:
Men's Singles
1 Indra WIJAYA ~ SIN
2 SHON Seung Mo KOR
3 Johan HADIKUSUMA INA (withdrawn)
4 Boonsak POLSANA THA
5 Kai Chuen TAM HKG
6 Saman ISMAIL MAS
7 Bjoern JOPPIEN GER
8 Ronald SUSILO SIN
Women's Singles
1 JUN Jae Youn KOR
2 Sujitra EKMONGKOLPAISARN THA
3 Wai Chee Louisa KOON HKG
4 Tracey HALLAM ENG
5 Zhen LIU SIN
6 Li LI ~ SIN
7 Silvi ANTARINI INA
8 Fan LIU SIN
Men's Doubles
1 LEE Dong Soo (4273) & YOO Yong Sung (4766) KOR
2 Jeremy GAN (9072) & NG Kean Kok (10286) MAS
3 CHANG Kim Wai (7769) & HONG Chien Hun (12379) MAS
4 Shoji SATO (50658) & Sho SASAKI (50905) JPN
Women's Doubles
1 Zhen LIU (8595) & Luxi XIAO (50181) SIN
2 Saralee THUNGTHONGKAM (7065) & Sathinee CHANKRACHANGWONG (13144) THA
3 LIM Pek Siah (7784) & ANG Li Peng (9092) MAS
4 Norhasikin AMIN (7049) & WONG Pei Tty (9162) MAS
Mixed Doubles
1 KIM Dong Moon (5745) & RA Kyung Min (4781) KOR
2 Kwun Yuen YAU (5841) & Wan Ting LING (10386) HKG
3 Kwok Wa LIU (7134) & Wai Chee Louisa KOON (5849) HKG
4 Khunakorn SUDHISODHI (1933) & Saralee THUNGTHONGKAM (7065) THA
picture by Raphael Sachetat |
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Other news:
» Now Gopichand pulls out of Malaysian Open
» Xia, Martin have top billing at 2002 Malaysia Open
» Hafiz to take three-week break
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