One obvious thing for Asian ladies players to learn from their Russian counterpart is the way they dress. I believe this is easier to do, no hours of training needed, just hours of shopping. It will definitely increase the game popularity by a few notches.
I was informed today that PBSI will send their 2nd tier players such as Tommy Sugiarto, Andreas Adityawarman, Pia, Bona-Ahsan, Tantowi-Yulianti, Rizal-Devi etc. to the Russian Open. The final list is yet to be disclosed. Their schedule will be Korea Challenge + Russian Open. With some of the interning "magang" young athletes playing only in Korea Challenge. In addition to PBSI, the Djarum Badminton club will also send 10 INA athletes there. The list possibly include Andre, Wahyu, Hayom, Rian, Yoke, Fran, Rendra, Febe, Sylvi, Fira... No Mel-Shendy this time... Unlike the PBSI athletes, the Djarum kids will go to the Russian Open and the Italian Challenge...
Good decision by PBSI this time We'll see if Bona/Ahsan and Tantowi/Yulianti can perform in Korea and Russia (esp). Given the strength of the Korean MD pairs (as we saw last week in Hanoi), it's unlikely Bona/Ahsan can win the title, but, a Semi-Final is expected of them given their high rank.
I have faith in Lius, Christian, Hendrawan, Richard Mainaky, etc. that they will make good decisions... er... as long as they got financial backing... As we all know money is never-NEVER enough for PBSI... For the time being, PBSI is fine due to the Rp 20 billion in fund-raising by Pak Sutiyoso one month before he steps down as Governor. Without money, then all their decisions will look disastrous [for us outsiders]...
Just read from official web of this tourney, Russian Open 2007 is their 1st edition of badminton world GP event and sponsored by Babolat. Hopefully this racket sport can grow up soon here, badminton needs another huge country to become more popular beside CHN of course... Don't know whether top shuttlers will fly to Moscow, the weather must be so cold plus unfriendly schedule (after 2 SS).
The schedule is perfect for up and coming players & pairs... While the best of the world are battling it out in the 2 SS, they can just dominate Russia...
Indonesia squad (incl. Djarum Club players): MS: 1. Andre Kurniawan Tedjono 2. Tommy Sugiarto 3. Ari Yuli Wahyu 4. Alamsyah Yunus 5. Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka 6. Andreas Adityawarman 7. Andi Hartanto (qual) WS: 1. Sylvinna Kurniawan (qual) 2. Maria Elfira (qual) 3. Fransisca Ratnasari (qual) MD: 1. Rian Sukmawan/Yonathan Suryatama 2. Bona Septano/Ahsan 3. Fran Kurniawan/Rendra Wijaya 4. Anggun Nugroho/Ahmad Tantowi (???) WD: 1. Nathalia Poluakan/Yulianti XD: 1. Akhmad Tantowi/Yulianti 2. Nathalia Poluakan/Anggun Nugroho Look like tough matches for Indonesia youngsters since many top players, mainly from Europe participate in this tournament. Quarter Final is good achievement, altough I hope they can through to SF (Tantowi/Yulianti, Andre, and Rian/Yoke). They have good opportunity to become a champion than the others Indonesian...
I am pretty sure Sylvi, Febe, Fira, and Nana can qualify to the main draw... their opponents in the qualifying rounds are not that tough... I just hope they remember to use the nationality separation rule so our girls won't clash with each other so early in the tournament. I was also hoping that PBSI would send Firda, Pia, and Maria Kristin to Russia. Since these girls have a better shot at winning the Russian Open rather than the HK SS... This is a great event to show the Russians, Ukranians, Slovenians, Lithuanians, Estonians etc. how the tropical island people play badminton...
It will be tough for Rian/Yoke to win the event....with the participation of Japanese pair and European pairs. We'll see if they can progress to the SF. Bona/Ahsan just missed out on being seeded The WD and XD are also interesting, with Chinese-Taipei, Chinese, and Korean pairs. Tantowi/Yulianti will be lucky if they can clear one round. Seems that PBSI will be pairing Yulianti with Nathalia Poluakan from now on? Good to see Andre Kurniawan being seeded in a GP Gold event. But, winning it will be extremely hard as Chen Yu and Chen Hong are the top two seeds.
Obviously, INA participates this tourney just to gain competing experience. From seeding report, it's quite strong line-up in all divisions particularly MS and WS which the top-two seeds are Chen Yu, Chen Hong in MS and Pi Hongyan, Xu Huaiwen in WS respectively. Seems many participants will coming from Europe countries including former Soviet Republics. Good for badminton development...
Interestingly, Chen Yu, Chen Hong, Xu Huawen, and Pi Hongyan all participated in China SS and Hong Kong SS before the Russian Open... Won't they feel tired playing 3 straight tournaments? Zhu Jingjing, Wang Lin and Wang Yihan, on the other hand, will go straight to Russia Open and skip Hong Kong SS... They might just do better than their tired Seniors...
Xu Huai wen was injured yesterday after playing Wang Lin...She might skip HK open as well as Russian open as it was quite bad...( according to her).....
The Russian Open draw is out... good draw for INA in MD and XD, not so good in MS and WS... Too many INA vs. INA in the early rounds... aiyaa...
Yeah, the drawing has released by BWF. This RUS Open doesn't attract many top-players like other previous GP Gold tourney where all tournaments located in Asia region (ABC-THA-PHI-TPE-Macau), the entries is rather similar with GP level tournament. From WS drawing, Pi Hongyan has cancelled her trip to Moskwa so Xu Huaiwen replaced her position as top-seed.
The Russian Open schedule is just too close to China SS and Hong Kong SS... Of course the top players are already exhausted to play 3 tournaments back-to-back-to-back... Really? Pi Hongyan cancelled? Hau-ge also said Xu Huawen is injured... Then this tournament can be more open for Wang Lin, Wang Yihan, and Zhu Jingjing, similar to the Vietnam Open a few weeks ago...
