Chen, Hidayat tipped to meet in Last 8

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An early clash of the titans looms as world No. 2 Chen
Hong of China and reigning Olympic champion Taufik
Hidayat are tipped to meet sooner than expected in the
Bingo Bonanza Philippine Open Badminton Championships
firing off today at the Philsports Arena in Pasig.

If they play true to form, Chen and Hidayat are
fancied to hurdle their first three assignments before
facing off in the quarterfinal round in what promises
to be an explosive duel between two of the world’s
finest players in the upper half of the 64-man main
draw.

But the top three seeds in women’s singles – Xu
Huaiwen of Germany, France’s Pi Hongyan and Malaysian
Mew Choo Wong – pulled out on the eve of the $120,000
event, somehow taking the luster off their side of the
championship.

Xu, the world No. 5, sustained an injury while playing
in last week’s China Masters while Pi, the world No. 6
who arrived Sunday with the French team, was running a
fever. The third-seeded and No. 11 Wong also cited
injury for withdrawing from the tournament sponsored
by Bingo Bonanza Corp. for the second straight year.
Thus, Eriko Hirose of Japan, Hong Kong’s Pui Yin Yip
and Dane Tine Rasmussen will take the top three
seedings and three additional slots to be disputed in
the qualifier being held at presstime.

The cast in the men’s side, however, remains intact.
Hidayat, a six-time Indonesian Open champion who also
won the gold medal in the Asian Games last year, beat
Chen the last time they clashed for the men’s singles
title in the Asian Championships in Malaysia last
April, giving the talented 25-year-old Indon the
momentum if ever they get to meet in the last 8.
“I have a good chance to make it to the finals. But
first, I need to hurdle Chen Wong in the
quarterfinals,” said Hidayat during the launching of
the event at the Holiday Inn Galleria yesterday.

Chen, a two-time All England and China Open winner who
defeated Hidayat for the first time in the
quarterfinal round of last year’s World Championships,
is the top seed in the talent-laden field that also
features four of the world’s top 10 players, including
Hidayat, now at No. 10.
“I come here to enjoy and have a good game and I’m
looking forward to playing him (Hidayat),” said Chen,
through an interpreter.

Malaysian world No. 3 Lee Chong wei gets the No. 2
seeding and is expected to face stiff opposition in
the lower bracket, including against No. 11 Andrew
Smith of England, who he could meet in the third round
in a battle for a quarterfinal seat.

World No. 6 Bao Chunlai is also fancied to breeze
through the first three rounds and into the quarters
in the lower half of the draw, so does world No. 8
Kenneth Jonassen, who is expected to ram into
defending champion Hafiz Hashim of Malaysia in the
quarterfinal round in the upper bracket.

Meanwhile, tickets to the five-day event are now on
sale at Ticketworld at the National Book Store
outlets. Tickets are pegged at P300, P200, P150, P100
and P50 in the eliminations to quarterfinal stages.
Tickets in the semis and finals are priced at P500,
P400, P300, P200 and P50.

The event, organized by IMG and held under the
auspices of the Philippine Badminton Association, will
be shown live on Solar Sports and RPN-9 beginning with
the semifinal round on July 21 and the finals on July
22.

Other players to watch in the ladies singles are Li Li
of Singapore and defending champion Saina Nehwal of
India, who stunned Xu in the semis last year en route
to the championship.

The RP pair of sisters Raquel and Rachel Guerrero
gains a ticket in the main draw of the women’s doubles
but they will have their hands full against Sook Chin
Chong and Amelia Anselly in the first round. But if
they get past the Malaysian tandem, the Guerreros are
lined up to face Yu and Wen in the second round.

The brother-sister tandem of Kennie and Kennevic
Asuncion takes on the Portuguese pair of Filipa Lamy
and Alexandre Paixao as the RP bets open their bid in
the mixed doubles event in the lower half of the
32-team draw, where they settled for runner-up honors
after losing to Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee
Thoungthangkam in last year’s finale.

But the Thais begged off to defend the crown although
the Indons are set to dominate the event by bringing
in the top seeded Indons Lilyana Natsir and Nova
Widianto and the No. 2 tandem of Vita Marissa and
Flandy Limpele.

The RP Open is backed by Victor, exclusively
distributed by Pcome Industrial Sales, Inc., Snickers,
The Philippine Star, Solar Sports (official
broadcaster), Holiday Inn Galleria Manila and The
Richmonde (official hotels).