Badminton recruiting vital: Siregar<\/p>\n
ATLANTA, Georgia (Agencies): The Olympic defeats suffered by
\nmany top Indonesian shuttlers prompted noted sports observer
\nMangombar Ferdinand Siregar on Wednesday to urge the Badminton
\nAssociation of Indonesia to speed up its regeneration program.<\/p>\n
"Those unexpected losses should greatly alarm the association
\nif it takes winning more medals at the 2000 Olympics in Sydney
\nseriously," Mangombar, the former training director of the
\nassociation, said.<\/p>\n
"In other words, the association should speed up its efforts
\nto recruit and prepare fresh talent to replace the existing
\nplayers for the Sydney Olympics," he was quoted by Antara as
\nsaying.<\/p>\n
Indonesia was the hot-favorite to win Olympic gold medals in
\nthe men's singles, men's doubles and women's singles. However, it
\nfailed to make the final in the men's singles after its top
\nshuttlers, world number two Joko Supriyanto, Barcelona Olympic
\ngold medalist Alan Budikusuma and world champion Hariyanto Arbi,
\nwere eliminated in the quarterfinals and the semifinals.<\/p>\n
Indonesia won a gold medal in the men's doubles after Ricky
\nSubagja and Rexy Mainaky came back from a shaky start to win a
\nthriller three-setter, 5-15, 15-13, 15-12, over Malaysia's Cheah
\nSoon Kit and Yap Kim Hock.<\/p>\n
Olympic women's singles champion Susi Susanti was eliminated
\nin a semifinal against her nemesis Bang Soo-hyun of South Korea.
\nBut Indonesia had something to cheer about, thanks to Mia
\nAudina's three-set victory over another South Korean, Kim Ji-
\nhyun, for a place in the women's singles final.<\/p>\n
Indonesia's hopes in the women's doubles also went up in smoke
\nafter Eliza and Zelin Resiana lost, 7-15, 3-15, to world number
\none pair and eventual champions Ge Fei and Gu Jun of China.<\/p>\n
The two Indonesian mixed doubles teams were ousted as well.
\nSecond seeds Trikus Heryanto and Minarti Timur lost, 4-15, 7-15,
\nto Kim Dong-moon and Gil Young-ah of South Korea, while Flandy
\nLimpele and Riseu Rosalina fell, 2-15, 15-5, 7-15, to Liu Jianjun
\nand Sun Man of China.<\/p>\n
Erratic play<\/p>\n
Siregar, highlighting the erratic performances of most young
\nIndonesian players, said that Mia Audina is the only one whose
\nskills match those of the more experienced Susi.<\/p>\n
"Now look at our portfolio in the men's singles. After Joko,
\nAlan and Hariyanto, we have no players to fill their shoes,"
\nSiregar said.<\/p>\n
He said that if the association had had more world-class
\nplayers in store, it would have had more room to select players
\nwhich, in turn, would have made it easier to win two tournaments
\nheld close to each other.<\/p>\n
Siregar was referring to the Olympics and the Uber Cup and
\nThomas Cup championships held in Hong Kong last May. Both the cup
\nchampionships were won by Indonesia for the second time running.<\/p>\n
Siregar said the double victory in Hong Kong had made the
\nIndonesian players overconfident which caused their downfall in
\nAtlanta.<\/p>\n
"It seems to me that the players, their coaches and officials
\nwere buoyed by their victories in Hong Kong. I have long warned
\nthem not to get complaisant with the victories," Siregar said,
\nadding that Olympic victories were more important.<\/p>\n
Indonesia won two gold medals from the men's singles and the
\nwomen's singles at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona, a few months
\nafter suffering upset defeats in the Thomas Cup and the Uber Cup.
\n(arf)<\/p>",
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