Susi Susanti still teasing over retirement<\/p>\n
GLASGOW (Reuter): Susi Susanti is still playing a teasing game
\nabout when she will retire, but the Indonesian is certain that
\nthis week will be her last chance to reclaim the world
\nchampionship crown that she donned in 1993.<\/p>\n
The 26-year-old, who totally dominated the sport in the early
\n1990s, has slipped to number five in the world rankings.<\/p>\n
But she proved she is still a major force with victory over
\nChina's Ye Zhaoying, the All-England champion and world number
\none, in the Sudirman Cup team championship last Friday.<\/p>\n
\"The win has made me think very positively about the
\nindividual championships,\" said Susanti. \"I am feeling very
\ngood.\"<\/p>\n
Last year, Susanti announced she would be retiring after the
\nOlympic Games in Atlanta. But then she said she would play one
\nmore year.<\/p>\n
On Monday, she intimated that her deadline could again be
\nextended.<\/p>\n
\"Maybe this will be my last world championships, but maybe
\nnot,\" she said. \"But it will be my last chance to win the
\nsingles. In two years' time I will be 28, and that is too old.
\nThere are so many good young players coming through.\"<\/p>\n
Three months ago, Susi married the 1992 Olympic Games
\nchampion, Alan Budikusuma in a much-publicized wedding. The pair
\nwere treated like royalty by the Indonesians.<\/p>\n
\"I felt like a queen. It was wonderful,\" Susi said.<\/p>\n
But Susi's new found status has not diminished her appetite
\nfor success on the court. \"The world championships are still
\nvery, very important to me. This is the biggest event in
\nbadminton, and it would be wonderful to win the title again.\"<\/p>\n
Susi opens her campaign against Hong Kong's Ong Ching on
\nTuesday but her big test will come in Friday's quarterfinal
\nagainst the number two seed, Gong Zhichao, the Chinese player who
\nbeat her in the All-England championships in March.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, India's outstanding player, P. Gopichand, will take
\nno part in the men's singles. The man who beat the Barcelona
\nOlympic champion Alan at the All-England championships in
\nBirmingham two months ago has a knee injury and is returning home
\nto Hyderabad.<\/p>\n
Injury continues to afflict Joko Suprianto, the former world
\nchampion from Indonesia, who will still be bothered by the groin
\nproblem he suffered in the World Grand Prix finals in Bali in
\nDecember when he begins the attempt to win the title back
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
Another Indonesian, Trikus Heryanto, who was unable to play in
\nthe Sudirman Cup semifinal against champions China on Friday,
\nstill has problems with his Achilles but expects to play in the
\nmixed doubles tomorrow. He and Minarti Timur are the top seeds.<\/p>",
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