Indonesia Open badminton c'ships 'on as planned'<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI)
\nstrongly denied a report from the Asian Badminton Confederation
\n(ABC) saying that the US$170,000 Indonesia Open was being
\npostponed until November.<\/p>\n
\"The Indonesia Open will still take place from July 23 until
\nJuly 29 at the Bung Karno Indoor Stadium as scheduled. We are
\nstill preparing for the event,\" PBSI secretary-general Leo
\nChandra Wiranata told reporters on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"We are also still processing all the required permits with
\nthe security authorities.\"<\/p>\n
Leo was responding to a letter from the Badminton Association
\n(BA) of Singapore citing its reasons for not yet naming a referee
\nfor the event.<\/p>\n
\"I sent a letter to the BA of Singapore over a month ago
\nasking them for a referee for the Indonesian Open but I've yet to
\nreceive a replay.\"<\/p>\n
\"Singapore said it had learned from the ABC's executive
\nsecretary Karen Koh that the Indonesia Open had been postponed to
\nNovember. This is categorically untrue.\"<\/p>\n
\"I'm going to call the ABC general secretary Punch Gunalan to
\nclarify the matter as we are still sticking with the schedule.\"<\/p>\n
Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Thailand have an agreement
\nthat the host country bears all the expenses of a referee from
\none of the other countries.<\/p>\n
The five-star tournament was originally scheduled to take
\nplace in Surabaya but Japanese electronics manufacturer Sanyo,
\nthe main sponsor of the event, demanded that the PBSI relocate
\nthe event to Jakarta for advertising reasons.<\/p>\n
There are also concerns related to safety and security as the
\nPeople's Consultative Assembly (MPR) is set to stage a special
\nsession on Aug. 1 to call embattled President Abdurrahman Wahid
\nto account for his leadership of the country.<\/p>\n
Many observers are worried that violent rallies will be staged
\nby Wahid's die-hard supporters before and during the session.<\/p>\n
The heated political situation, however, has not prevented the
\nbadminton countries from fielding their shuttlers.<\/p>\n
Badminton powerhouse China even plans to send its full team,
\nincluding some of world's top players after there years of
\nabsence. The players include world number three Chen Hong,
\nOlympic champion Ji Xinpeng, last year's All England winner Xia
\nXuanxe, world champion Gong Ruina, world number one Zhou Mi, and
\nDai Yun.<\/p>\n
England will field Colin Houghton, Michael Edge, Mark
\nConstable and Julia Mann, while India is fielding All England
\nchampion Pullela Gopichand. Thailand is to field Bonsaak Polsana.<\/p>\n
\"We are still awaiting word from Denmark as to whether they'll
\nfield world number one Peter Gade Christensen and world number
\ntwo Camilla Martin. I've been told that they want to concentrate
\non the Grand Prix Finals,\" said Leo.<\/p>\n
\"If the event were to be postponed, they would definitely come
\n(to the rescheduled event).\" (nvn)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/indonesia-open-badminton-cships-on-as-planned-1447893297",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
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