RICHEST BADMINTON OPEN TOURNAMENT SET TO START TOMORROW IN U.S.A. Money Fails To Attract More Quality Entries by Mike Grossman (from a report filed by Y.M. Fong) September 23, 1996 (New Shuttlenws) - The richest single badminton open tournament ever, the U.S. Open, is set to kick off tomorrow, September 24, in the city of Orange in California, a short distance from Los Angeles. The U.S. Open this year boasts of US$200,000 in prize money, the largest purse ever for an open badminton competition. The only badminton tournament that offers a larger purse is the year-ending invitational tournament of champions or Grand Prix Finals. However, despite the lure of a US$200,000 purse, the tournament has not attracted a deep field of quality entries with the top Chinese and Korean players as well as some top Indonesians absent from the U.S. Open. Missing from the field are Atlanta Olympic gold medalists Bang Soo Hyun of Korea (women's singles), Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky of Indonesia (men's doubles), Ge Fei and Gu Jun of China (women's doubles) and Kim Dong Moon and Gil Young Ah of Korea (mixed doubles). Of the Olympic gold medalists, only Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark (men's singles) has entered the tournament. He is joined by bronze medalist Rashid Sidek of Malaysia. Silver medalist Dong Jiong of China has not entered. Other notables missing from the tournament are Susi Susanti of Indonesia, the women's singles gold medalist from the Barcelona Olympics, Ye Zhaoying of China, the current world champion in women's singles and Heryanto Arbi of Indonesia, the current world champion in men's singles. The absence of a deep quality field is evident from the names in the seedings such as men's singles 11th-seed Andreij Antropov of Russia, 12-seed Hwang Sun Ho of Korea, 13th-seed Yong Hock Kin of Malaysia, 14th-seed Kevin Han of the United States, 15th-seed Kenneth Erichsen of Guatemala and 16th-seed Mike Beres of Canada who are world-ranked in the 50's and lower. Budi Santoso of Indonesia who made it to the finals fo the recent Indonesian Open is only seeded tenth behind Iain Sydie of Canada. Sydie of Canada is only world-ranked at 40 but deserves a ninth or tenth seeding because of his ninth-to-sixteenth place finish in the Atlanta Olympics. The names in the women's singles seeds also reflect the lack of depth in the draw with Denyse Julien of Canada, Ella Karachkova of Russia, Amparo Lim of the Philippines and Debra O'Connor of Trinidad seeded 5th, 6th, 7th and 8th respectively despite their world rankings in the 50's or lower. The U.S. Open is the third big-money tournament after the Olympics, having been preceded by the Malaysian and Indonesian Opens. All have suffered from a lack of depth in quality entries as many of the top players try to recover from the mental and physical strains of qualifying, training and playing in the Olympics. Some of the U.S Open seedings follow. Men's Singles 1. Joko Suprianto - Indonesia 2. Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen - Denmark 3. Rashid Sidek - Malaysia 4. Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen - Denmark 5. Ong Ewe Hock - Malaysia 6. Fung Permadi - Chinese Taipei 7. Indra Wijaya - Indonesia 8. Pang Chen - Malaysia 9. Iain Sydie - Canada 10. Budi Santoso - Indonesia 11. Andreij Antropov - Russia 12. Hwang Sun Ho - Korea 13. Yong Hock Kin - Malaysia 14. Kevin Han - USA 15. Kenneth Erichsen - Guatemala 16. Mike Beres - Canada Women's Singles 1. Mia Audina - Indonesia 2. Camilla Martin - Denmark 3. Meiluawati - Indonesia 4. Lim Xiaoqing - Sweden 5. Denyse Julien - Canada 6. Ella Karachkova - Russia 7. Amparo Lim - Philippines 8. Debra O'Connor - Trinidad Men's Doubles 1. Denny Kantono/Antonius - Indonesia 2. Cheah Soon Kit/Yap Kim Hock - Malaysia 3. Tony Gunawan/Rudy Wijaya - Indonesia 4. Andreij Antropov/Nikolai Zuev - Russia 5. Chris Hunt/Simon Archer - England 6. Michael Sogaard/Henrik Svarrer - Denmark 7. Chandra Wijaya/Sigit Budiarto - Indoneisa 8. Choong Tan Fook - Lee Wan Wah - Malaysia New Shuttlenws (e-mail: n.shuttlenws@genie.com)