Indonesia upbeat on defending Thomas Cup title<\/p>\n
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Guangzhou, China<\/p>\n
The Indonesian teams have expressed confidence that both men's
\nThomas Cup team and women's Uber Cup squad will be able to reach
\ntheir best results.<\/p>\n
\"The shuttlers seem happy without any burden and are ready to
\nfight. We are also glad that our Ambassador Aa Kustia took time
\nto come down from Beijing to see us at Guangzhou airport,\" Thomas
\nCup and Uber Cup project manager, Lutfi Hamid said.<\/p>\n
\"All team members will do their jobs properly and
\nprofessionally. The officials will do their best to serve the
\nshuttlers so they can concentrate on their matches.<\/p>\n
Some participants of 2002 Thomas Cup and Uber Cup finals
\narrived at the southern Chinese city on Monday to prepare for the
\nbiennial event to start at Guangzhou's Tianhe Sports Center on
\nThursday.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian squad has agreed to a ban on all shuttlers'
\nphones in their hotel rooms, the Garden Hotel in central
\nGuangzhou, to keep them focused on their matches.<\/p>\n
\"The decision was made with the players' consent as they also
\nunderstand the importance of keeping focused,\" said Lutfi.<\/p>\n
\"I must apologize to Indonesian people who can't convey their
\nsupport directly to the players. Any kind of support can be
\ndelivered to the Indonesian team's post command. But we will
\nprovide the shuttlers with local cellular phone numbers so they
\ncan contact their families for more personal matters,\" he added.<\/p>\n
There are 35 members in the Indonesian team, consisting of 10
\nshuttlers in each team and 15 officials.<\/p>\n
The other teams that have arrived so far are Denmark, Malaysia
\nand the Netherlands.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Uber Cup team will face Hong Kong on Thursday
\nin Group A's qualifying round. The group pits Denmark and the
\nNetherlands, who will also have their first match on Thursday.
\nGroup B has Germany, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea. Group B
\nwill start their matches on Friday.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian Uber Cup team is deemed one of the weakest in
\nhistory, with no star shuttlers since the 1996 Barcelona
\nOlympics, with women's singles gold medalist Susi Susanti and
\nstarlet Mia Audina Tjiptawan in the late 1990s.<\/p>\n
Mia, currently world no. 6, now fights for her adopted country
\nthe Netherlands which poses a great threat to Indonesia's target
\nto reach the semifinals. As if that's not enough, Denmark's
\nnumber one shuttler Camilla Martin is back on the court despite
\nearlier news that she had to withdraw due to injuries.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, the Indonesian Thomas Cup team will play against
\nThailand on Friday in Group B, which also groups Malaysia and
\nGermany. China, South Korea, Denmark and Sweden are in Group A,
\nwhich starts playing on Thursday.<\/p>\n
The Indonesian shuttlers, the defending Thomas Cup champions,
\nwill try to make history by becoming the first team to win the
\ncup five times consecutively. They will face a great challenge
\nfrom host China who already has two other coveted trophies in
\nworld badminton.<\/p>\n
China won the Uber Cup in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and the mixed
\nteam Sudirman Cup in Seville, Spain last year.<\/p>",
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