Injuries befall RI shuttlers bound for SEA Games<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Mia Audina was injured in Singapore Friday night
\nas fellow members of the national team gathered at Senayan for
\n40 minutes of meditation in preparation for the 18th Southeast
\nAsian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand.<\/p>\n
A bad omen? Could be. Mia, second only to badminton queen Susi
\nSusanti, was forced to give up her quarterfinal fight at the
\nongoing World Grand Prix Badminton Finals in Singapore.<\/p>\n
Worse than that, she may have lost her chance to defend
\nIndonesia at the Dec. 9 to Dec. 17 games in Chiang Mai.<\/p>\n
Gucharan Singh, the International Badminton Federation doctor
\nwho treated her, predicted that Mia could require up to two weeks
\nto recover fully. Her coach, Triaji now has doubts as to whether
\nMia will play at the Chiang Mai games.<\/p>\n
Mia won the first set 12-11. In the second set, Mia was
\nleading 10-6 when she fell while returning a lob from China's
\nWang Chen. Singh rushed to help her, with the score at 10-7.
\nAfter 10 minutes, Mia tried to resume the match. She replied to
\nWang's service, before grimacing with pain and collapsing. "I
\ntold her not to resume the match," Singh said.<\/p>\n
Mia's injury, which lengthens the list of injured Indonesian
\nSEA Games bound shuttlers, seems to show that the nearer the
\ngames draw, the more susceptible the Indonesian badminton team is
\nto injury.<\/p>\n
Mia's teammate, Hermawan, was injured when he took on, and was
\nbeaten by, Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark on Thursday.<\/p>\n
Earlier, prior to the Grand Prix Finals, world number one
\nmen's doubles pair Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky of Indonesia
\nwere forced to withdraw when Ricky sustained a back injury which
\nworsened during practice on Nov. 28.<\/p>\n
And early last month, world number one Susi Susanti, also
\nlisted for the 18th SEA Games, strained the Achilles tendon in
\nher right foot during a semifinal match against South Korea's
\nBang Soo-hyun at the China Open.<\/p>\n
Are these injuries enough reason to be pessimistic?<\/p>\n
Pessimism is unknown among the more than 400 athletes and
\nofficials who vowed "to give everything for my country" at the
\nmeditation gathering at Istora Senayan on Friday.<\/p>\n
This holds true for Wienarto, the coach of the national
\nvolleyball team, who insists that "our chance for gold medals
\nremains open" despite the fact that Thailand's team is better.
\nThailand finished fifth at the Asian Volleyball Championship in
\nSeoul a few months ago, to which Indonesia did not send a team.
\nThe Thai team is made up of seasoned players, who have played at
\nprevious SEA Games. Indonesia's team, on the other hand, consists
\nmostly of young, inexperienced players.<\/p>\n
Indonesia is sending 691 athletes and officials to the 18th
\nSAE Games at Chiang Mai. They were officially dispatched by
\nPresident Soeharto at the State Palace on Friday and are
\nscheduled to leave on Dec. 6. (arf)<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/injuries-befall-ri-shuttlers-bound-for-sea-games-1447893297",
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