SINGAPORE — Three of Indonesia’s top men’s singles players withdrew from the Li-Ning Singapore Open yesterday but the organisers are unfazed about their 11th-hour pull-out.
Sony Dwi Kuncoro (world No 7 and 2010 SIngapore Open winner), Dionysious Hayum Rumbaka (No. 24) and Simon Santoso (No. 26 and 2008 runner-up) are giving the US$200,000 SuperSeries tournament a miss, citing fatigue and injuries.
The triple Indonesian whammy means that Indonesia will have only Tommy Sugiarto (world No 20) as their only flag bearer in the men’s singles.
“They are all injured,” said Indonesia’s coach Joko Suprianto, pointing to his head.
The withdrawals follow that of Chinese two-time Olympic and four-time world champion Lin Dan who announced last week that he was skipping the tournament to recover from injuries.
Several other withdrawals were also announced at the team’s managers’ meeting yesterday.
World No 1 doubles pair and top seeds Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang of China, who finished second at the recent Indonesian Open, have pulled out. So too have their compatriots Ma Jin and Tang Jinhua (world No 6). Both pairs cited injuries for their absence.
Despite the pull-outs, the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) said there is still enough talent to spice up this week’s tournament, which begins today at the Singapore Indoor Stadium. They also remain upbeat about ticket sales.
“Even with the late withdrawals from Indonesia, we stiil have 70 per cent of the world’s top players taking part,” said SBA chief execuitve Bobby Lee.
“Things are also looking good as far as ticket sales are concerned. In fact, we are going to perform better than last year and we are getting close to achieving the 2011 figures which saw an estimated total of 30,000 for the entire five-day tournament.
“So far we have had sales of almost 3,000 tickets per day including the season tickets for the preliminary rounds and it’s an encouraging figure. Maybe we can expect more from the semi-finals onwards depending on the match-up.
Lee did note however that the timing of next year’s competition could be changed.
“For the past three years, we have been tagged with the Indonesian Open which is usually held in June. Mabye that’s the drawback because the Indonesian Open is a Premier Series and all top 10 players are obliged to take part there,” he said.
“The Singapore Open is usually held the next week, and so many things can happen by then, like injury or fatigue.
“But next year, when the new Super Series cycle kicks in, we will have our tournament tagged with the Indian Open which is a Super Series like ours, and it will be held in April instead. So maybe things will be better for us.”
Meanwhile, Derek Wong, Singapore’s top-ranked men shuttler is gunning to make it past the first round of the tournament for the first time this year.
The 24-year-old is confident of progressing far into the knock-out stages this time, thanks to tweaks he made to his game.
But he will first have to get past Malaysia’s Zulfadli Zulkiffli in the men’s singles qualifiers on Tuesday. If he succeeds, he will be rewarded with a mouth-watering clash with defending champion Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand in the opening round on Wednesday.
“I recently changed my style of play. I used to be an aggressive player, but my coach Luan Jin thinks I have to change my approach to achieve better results,” said Wong who did not progress past the group stages at last year’s London Olympics.
“For example, I am now learning how to apply more variety to my strokes instead of smashing all the way. I am learning to move the shuttle around the court better with more control.
“Things are a bit difficult in the beginning but I am adapting well now. This could get me as far into the competition as possible and maybe break through to world class level. I definitely want to make it into the finals and hopefully win, but we’ll have to take it one step at a time.”
Visit www.singaporebadmintonopen.sg for ticketing and further information.
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