PERMADI SEEDED AHEAD OF HOYER AT TAIPEI OPEN
Philippine Pair Seeded Second in Women's Doubles
by Martin Coe and Mike Grossman

January 7, 1997 (New Shuttlenws) - Fung Permadi, the 1996 World Grand Prix Finals champion, has been seeded first in the men's singles event at the five-star Chinese-Taipei Open badminton tournament that begins today. Permadi, a former second-string player on the Indonesian national team who has taken up permanent residence in Taipei, is seeded ahead of Olympic champion Poul Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark and world champion Heryanto Arbi of Indonesia.

Permadi earned the honor of being top-seeded at the Chinese-Taipei Open, the first major badminton tournament of 1997, by virtue of his strong finish in 1996. Aside from winning the Grand Prix Finals, he won the China and Hong Kong Opens and was a semifinalist at the U.S. Open. Permadi is ranked number 4 on the world ranking list (Hoyer-Larsen is ranked 6 while Arbi is at 15).

In women's doubles, the Philippine pair of Kennie Asuncion and Amparo Lim are surprisingly seeded second behind Helene Kirkegaard and Rikke Olsen of Denmark. This is the first time that any player or pair from the Philippines has begun a major badminton tournament at such a high seeding.

Asuncion and Lim have been made second seeds because they are rated higher on the world ranking list than any of the other pairs in the tournament except for Kirkegaard and Olsen. The Danes are at number 6 on the world list and the Philippine pair is at number 32. The 3-and-4 seeds, Duangsiri and Plungwech of Thailand and Zanati and Carmelita of Indonesia, are ranked 33 and 38 respectively.

The seeded players (arranged in their relative positions in the draw; the number or numbers within parentheses indicates the seeding):

Men's Singles

Fung Permadi - Chinese-Taipei (1)
Jason Wong - Malaysia (9-16)

Hendrawan - Indonesia (5-8)
Natapol Sarawan - Thailand (9-16)

Heryanto Arbi - Indonesia (3-4)
Jeroen van Dijk - Netherlands (9-16)

Peter Gade Christensen - Denmark (5-8)
Lo Ah Heng - Malaysia (9-16)

Kenneth Jonassen - Denmark (9-16)
Hwang Sun Ho - Korea (5-8)

Wong Choon Han - Malaysia (9-16)
Hermawan Susanto - Indonesia (3-4)

Rikard Magnusson - Sweden (9-16)
Salim - Indonesia (5-8)

Pang Chen - Malaysia (9-16)
Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen (2)

Women's Singles

Mia Audina - Indonesia (1)
Lotte Thomsen - Denmark (5-8)

Hisako Mizui - Japan (3-4)
Pornsawan Plungwech - Thailand (5-8)

Takako Ida - Japan (5-8)
Lee Joo Hyun - Korea (3-4)

Yasuko Mizui - Japan (5-8)
Camilla Martin - Denmark (2)

Men's Doubles

Ricky Subagja/Rexy Mainaky - Indonesia (1)
Hwang Sun Ho/Lee Dong Soo - Korea (5-8)

Chandra Wijaya/Sigit Budiarto - Indonesia (3-4)
Choong Tan Fook/Lee Wan Wah - Malaysia (5-8)

Pramote Teerawiwatana/Kitipon Kitikul - Thailand (5-8)
Kang Kyung Jin/Ha Tae Kwon - Korea (3-4)

Rosman Razak/Chew Choon Eng - Malaysia (5-8)
Denny Kantono/Antonius Iriantho - Indonesia (2)

Women's Doubles

Rikke Olse/Helene Kirkegaard - Denmark (1)
Tsai Huey-Min/Chen Li-Chin - Chinese-Taipei (5-8)

Thitakarn Duangsiri/Pornsawan Plungwech - Chinese-Taipei (3-4)
Tantry Etty/Cynthia - Indonesia (5-8)

Saralee Thunthongkam/Ticha Boonyarak - Thailand (5-8)
Nonong Denis Zanati/Carmelita - Indonesia (3-4)

Hisako Mizui/Yasuko Mizui - Japan (5-8)
Kennie Asuncion/Amparo Lim - Philippines (2)

Mixed Doubles

Michael Sogaard/Rikke Olsen - Denmark (1)
Feng Horng-Yun/Lee Ming-Hwa - Chinese-Taipei (5-8)

Sandiarto/Finarsih - Indonesia (3-4)
Ha Tae Kwon/Yim Kyung Jin - Korea (5-8)

Thesana Panvisvas/Saralee Thunthongkam - Thailand (5-8)
Lee Dong Soo/Park Soo Yun - Korea (3-4)

Yen Hng-Ta/Lee Shwu-Juan - Chinese-Taipei (5-8)
Imam Tohari/Ema Ermawati - Indonesia (2)