Alan misses
\nThomas Cup
\nfinals slot<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Olympic gold medalist Alan Budikusuma's hopes of
\nmaking his third appearance at the Thomas Cup were dashed, while
\nteenager Mia Audina will make an Uber Cup women's championship
\ndebut.<\/p>\n
The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) picked Olympic
\nbronze medalist Hermawan Susanto as the reserve singles player
\ninstead of Alan for a team made up also of world's top three
\nsingles: Joko Suprianto, Ardy Wiranata and Hariyanto Arbi.<\/p>\n
Soerjadi, PBSI chairman, said upon announcing the Indonesian
\nThomas Cup and Uber Cup lineups on Saturday that Hermawan had
\nmanaged to keep his performance steady.<\/p>\n
Both the Thomas and Uber Cups finals will be staged at the
\nSenayan indoor stadium from May 10 to 21.<\/p>\n
Alan will enter the finals as the team's assistant along with
\nnational doubles player Danny Kantono. Alan led the Indonesian
\nteam in the 1990 meet and played second singles in the country's
\n2-3 final defeat to Malaysia two years ago.<\/p>\n
Hermawan, who will wear the national colors at the
\nchampionship finals for the third consecutive time, capped his
\n1993 performances with only one title, in Hong Kong. He reached
\nthe semifinal at the All England, only to lose to Ardy. Hermawan
\nplayed a pivotal role in producing an All Indonesian final at the
\n1992 Olympics and the world championships last year.<\/p>\n
The Thomas Cup doubles lineup includes All England champions
\nRudy Gunawan and Bambang Suprianto, no relationship to Joko, and
\ntheir runner-ups Rexy Mainaky and Ricky Subagja. Veteran doubles
\nspecialist Eddy Hartono was named the substitute.<\/p>\n
With 15-year-old Mia, who stole a set before going down to
\nChina's Ye Zhaoying in last month's All England, staying on the
\nbench, world champion Susi Susanti, Yuliani Sentosa and Yuni
\nKartika form the nucleus of Indonesia's Uber Cup singles squad.<\/p>\n
Lili Tampi, Finarsih, Eliza and Zelin Resiana will make up the
\ndoubles contingent, with another veteran, Rosiana Tendean, taking
\nthe team's reserve slot.<\/p>\n
\"Those are our best teams which are expected to live up to our
\nlong-time dream of unifying both coveted trophies,\" said
\nSoerjadi. China has been the only country to produce a double,
\ndoing so three times in a row from 1986-1988.<\/p>\n
Soerjadi also against arguments on the final lineups. \"The
\nplayers were chosen through deliberations involving coaches, PBSI
\nofficials and players,\" he said without elaborating on the
\nstandards used for selection.<\/p>\n
Malaysia<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Malaysia named an extra ordinary squad with three
\ndoubles players powering its Thomas Cup title defense campaign.
\nRashid Sidek will lead the holders made up also of singles
\nshuttlers Ong Ewe Hock and Asian champion Foo Kok Keong, and
\ndoubles specialists Cheah Soon Kit, Soo Beng Kiang, Razif and
\nbrother Jaelani Sidek, Tan Kim Her and Yap Kim Hock.<\/p>\n
\"It is part of our strategy to retain the Thomas Cup and it
\nwill be a surprise to the opponents,\" Badminton Association of
\nMalaysia (BAM) president Abdullah Fadzil Che Wan said.<\/p>\n
Finalists are allowed to register up to nine players for the
\nbiennial tournament which will contest three singles and two
\ndoubles matches. Usually, each team enrolls four singles
\nspecialists and five doubles players.<\/p>\n
Former champion China picked world junior champion Sun Jun to
\nback up Liu Jun, Dong Jiong and Xie Yangchun in the singles. Chen
\nHoyong and Chen Kang spearheaded the doubles team which included
\nHuang Zhanghong, Jiang Xin and Yu Qi. (amd)<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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