The China Open, IBF 6 Star Badminton World Grand Prix, started
in Guangzhou Tianhe Gymnasium on Tuesday.
The World Badminton Federation's draw was held on November 2,
and men's singles top seed Lin Dan got a first-round bye in the
first 1/4 block. He is likely to encounter ninth seed Boesen Anders
from Denmark in the third round.
The fourth seed, Indonesian Kuncoro Sony Dwi, tops the second
block, while third and fifth seeds Xia Xuanze and Bao Chunlai, both
Chinese, dominate the third. The last block is headed by another
Indonesian, Taufik Hidayat, who won at the Athens Olympics, and
world second seed Gade Peter of Denmark.
Owing to the absence of the powerful Dane Camilla Martin and
Dutch Athens silver medallist Mia Audina-Tjiptawan, the women's
singles is dominated by the Chinese national team led by four
veteran players: Zhang Ning, Gong Zhina, Zhou Mi and Xie
Xingfang.
In the women's doubles, top-seeded 2004 Olympic runner-up Yang
Wei/Zhang Jiewen will play second seeded Wei Yili/Zhao Tingting and
third-seeded Gao Ling/Huang Sui.
Guan Weizhen, associate administrator of Guangzhou Sports
Administration and director of Guangzhou Badminton Sports
Administration Center, said that all of the US$275,000 funding had
been raised thanks to heated competition for sponsorship. Unlike
the previous award, which was delayed by long taxation procedures,
Guan promised that this time the award money would be delivered
promptly to the winner.
To present a wonderful gala for more badminton lovers, the
organizer set tickets at only 20 yuan (US$2.4) for all the first
three days' games and cancelled free tickets to crack down on
ticket touts.
Guangzhou Badminton Association has successfully held several
high-level badminton competitions both domestically and
internationally, such as the ninth national games in 2001, the 2002
Thomas and Uber Cup as well as the 2003 China Open, at which
Chinese athletes won all four titles apart from the men's
doubles.
(China.org.cn by Li Xiao November 9, 2004)