PBSI to reconsider Olympics target<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): Disappointing play by Indonesian shuttlers in
\nthe US$120,000 V6 Danish Open in Vejle, Denmark, last week has
\ncaused some worry at the Badminton Association of Indonesia
\n(PBSI).<\/p>\n
The PBSI official in charge of athlete development, Christian
\nHadinata, said on Monday that due to the poor results in Denmark,
\nthe association would have difficulty setting its targets for the
\n2000 Olympics in Sydney.<\/p>\n
"We expected them to reach the finals and improve their world
\nrankings. We'll have difficulty predicting their future
\nperformances due to their inconsistent play in tournaments. Their
\nup-and-down form is really shocking. Although we have some time,
\nit's difficult to set a target with their inconsistent form," he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
The women's doubles team of Elysa Nathanael and Deyana Lomban
\nwere the only Indonesians to reach the semifinals of the four-
\nstar tournament, where they bowed out to China's second seeded
\npairing of Gao Ling and Qin Yiyuan. The Chinese duo went on to
\nwin the title, defeating compatriots Chen Lin and Jiang Xuelian
\n15-12, 15-8.<\/p>\n
Christian focused on the poor form of Indonesia Open champion
\nLidya Djaelawidjaja, who crashed out in the first round in
\nDenmark to qualifier Sun Jian of China.<\/p>\n
"We expected her to gain more self-confidence by winning the
\nIndonesia Open. Lidya has speed and good technical skills which
\ncan trouble her opponents. I'm not sure if her poor form was
\ncaused by a lack of confidence or something else."<\/p>\n
In the men's singles, Indonesia failed to send one of its
\nshuttlers to the semifinals. Third seeded Taufik Hidayat fell in
\nthe quarterfinals to veteran Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark,
\nwho eventually won the tournament with a 17-15, 15-4 victory over
\nWong Choon Han of Malaysia.<\/p>\n
Fourth seeded Hariyanto Arbi also fell in the quarterfinals,
\nlosing to Wong, while seventh seeded Marlev Mainaky failed to
\nrepeat his success over Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark, losing
\nto the tournament's second-seed in the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
"On paper, one of our men's singles should have reached the
\nsemifinals or even the final. Taufik cannot lose to Hoyer-Larsen,
\nwho is about twice as old as him. And Marlev could not show that
\nhis victory over Gade Christensen in the Indonesia Open was not a
\nfluke.<\/p>\n
"In the men's doubles, only newcomers Ade Lukas and Santoso
\nSugiharjo showed good form by eliminating sixth seeded Zhang Wei
\nand Zhang Jun of China. Unfortunately, their veteran teammates
\nwere disappointing. Flandy and Eng Hian, top seeded here, should
\nnot have lost to unseeded Martin Lundgaard and Lars Paaske, while
\nsecond seeded Antonius and Denny Kantono must not lose to Jim
\nLaugesen and Michael Sogaard," Christian said.<\/p>\n
Lundgaard and Paaske won the doubles title by defeating
\nLaugesen and Sogaard 15-13, 15-10 in an all-Danish final.<\/p>\n
"The top and second seeded teams losing in the semifinals to
\nless powerful doubles teams is pathetic. They did not show their
\nworld-class technical skills.<\/p>\n
"But I'm somewhat happy because Lukas and Santoso managed to
\nreach the quarters. It showed that they have the potential to
\nreplace the veteran players in the future," Christian said.<\/p>\n
Camilla Martin of Denmark took the women's singles title on
\nSunday, defeating Zhou Mi of China 8-11, 11-3, 11-1, while
\nChina's mixed doubles team of Liu Yong and Ge Fe bested
\ncompatriots Zhang Jun and Gao Ling 15-12, 17-14. (yan)<\/p>",
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