The tourney will begin today with the qualification rounds. Rendra Wijaya/Fran Kurniawan will be competing as the second-seed and they have a bye till R16 to be played tomorrow night. I will expect them to win the title here, given there are no strong pairs in MD
http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=16658 go jeff! go erwin.. haha and i'm saying go rendra/fran for erin *erm
Those Russian Pair [seeded 4] can be the toughest challenge for Fran-Rendra... On the other hand, the 1st seeded Belgian pair should be easier... Yup, no Malaysian here... too far and too expensive for an International Series level tournament...
u can catch this tournament livescore here>> http://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/tournament.aspx?id=16658
Not a convincing start for Rendra Wijaya/Fran Kurniawan as they beat the German pair Dharma Gunawi (ex-INA)/Peter Zauner in rubber-sets 21-15, 19-21, 21-15 They will face Harald Koch/Michael Lahnsteiner today and also a potential semi-final match against the Russian pair in the night session.
From what I know, Dharma Gunawi, an alumni of PB Djarum himself [just like Fran-Rendra] arranged their accomodation, gave them food, etc. in Austria... So, Fran-Rendra cannot just destroy him and not give him face... and Dharma himself is a skillful player. Oh, I predict Ivanov-Sozonov will go to the finals in the top draw... Those mix-pair seeded number 3 and the Belgians seeded number 1 can't stop the Russians [if they are in good form]...
This tournament is dominated by Asians. The only Asian entry not in the final is Zhang Yi in the MD (partnering a Swede). But he is in the final in the XD partnering Cai Jiani. There is also an even chance that all of the titles will be won by Asians.
So, Rendra Wijaya/Fran Kurniawan have a chance to win a title today as they progress to the Final, after a tough 21-14, 19-21, 21-19 victory over Andrew Bowman/Martyn Lewis, both experienced doubles players. They will meet the first-seed Claes Wouter/Frederic Mawet, after the Bulgarian beat Anton Ivanov/Ivan Sozonov.
Yeay for Fran-Rendra! Were Wouter-Mawet Bulgarian before? Their flag show that they are now Belgians... Their name sounds Belgian enough to me... Anyway, Fran-Rendra can take 'em on!
Ok...since I need to do some work, I stay up for this match Fran/Rendra have just taken the first set 21-14. It does look like they will win their first international title.
Fran/Rendra are simply destroying the Belgian pair as they collected 7 straight pts to make it 14-3, before the Belgian won another pt back.
Fran Kurniawan/Rendra Wijaya do not disappoint as the Djarum pair wins the Austrian International Championships 2008 by beating the top-seed Claes Wouter/Frederic Mawet 21-14, 21-11 in just 21 mins. Congrats! Now, their next target is to win an International Challenge and hopefully a GP event this year. A GP Gold might be slightly beyond their reach...but...who knows They should clear the first hurdle in the German Open 2008 next week by beating Johannes Schoettler/Tim Dettman.