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Singapore. Indonesia’s shuttlers wasted no time proving their medal potential, sweeping their opening-round matches at the Youth Olympic Games on Sunday.

Evert Sukamta came away with a 21-7, 14-21, 21-13 victory over Japanese Kento Horiuchi in men’s singles pool B, while Renna Suwarno routed Victoria Cheng of New Zealand 21-15, 21-5 in women’s singles pool D.

Eighteen-year-old Evert returned for the evening match in sharper form, beating Irfan Djabar of Suriname 21-4, 21-10.

In her second match, Renna, 18, had little trouble turning back Katherine Winder of Peru, winning 21-9, 21-12.

The shuttlers in each division are assigned to eight groups, with the group leader advancing to the quarterfinals.

Evert and Renna will return to the Singapore Indoor Stadium today to wrap up the pool stage.

Indonesia team manager Yacob Rusdianto lauded the shuttlers’ performance but was more optimistic about Evert’s chances of going deep into the tournament.

“Evert has performed well, although I think Renna will have a more difficult time because she will play Deng Xuan [of China] on Monday,” Yacob said.

Two other Indonesian athletes saw their run at the Youth Olympics end.

Fibriani Ratna Marita was shown the door in the women’s 200-meter individual medley, after she finished fifth in the heats.

“I’m upset with my performance, not because I failed to make it to the final but my time was two seconds slower than my best time,” the 16-year-old swimmer told the Jakarta Globe.

“I think I over-prepared for these Games. The tight training schedule disrupted my performance,” she added, saying that she would now focus on training for the Asian Games in Guangzhou in November.

Indonesian tennis player Grace Sari Ysidora was also eliminated, after she lost 6-3, 6-2 to Denisa Allertova of the Czech Republic in the first round in girls’ singles.

Three Indonesian athletes will open their bid in the Youth Olympics today.

In swimming, Patricia Yosita Hapsari will compete in the heats in the girls’ 100m freestyle.

In weightlifting, Zainuddin will take a crack at a podium finish in the boys’ 62-kilogram category, while medal favorite Dewi Safitri will feature in girls’ 53kg.

In other events, Japan’s Yuka Sato won the first gold medal in the Youth Olympics, racing to a comfortable victory in the women’s triathlon.

Sato, 18, finished the race in 1 hour and 49 seconds followed by Australian Ellie Salthouse and American Kelly Whitley. The 32 athletes swam 750 meters, cycled 20 kilometers and ran 5 kilometers through Singapore’s East Coast Park.

“I feel a sense of happiness, very happy,” she said, of making history as the first gold medal winner at the games. “At the beginning, I already told myself I could do this.”

Organizers were dealt an early blow when British diver Tom Daley announced he may not compete because of a tricep injury.

Daley, who became the youngest diver at 15 to win a world title in men’s platform earlier this year, withdrew from the European Championships on Saturday and said in a statement he will travel to Singapore and determine later whether he will compete. He arrives Tuesday.

Daley is among the best-known athletes at the Youth Olympics and was due to compete in the 3 meter springboard and 10 meter platform. Daley is scheduled to compete in the Commonwealth Games in October.

“The team and I felt it was best not to risk it and tear the muscle which would put me out for three months and would see me miss the Commonwealth Games,” Daley said in a statement.


With AP