Alan misses

Alan misses Thomas Cup finals slot

JAKARTA (JP): Olympic gold medalist Alan Budikusuma's hopes of making his third appearance at the Thomas Cup were dashed, while teenager Mia Audina will make an Uber Cup women's championship debut.

The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) picked Olympic bronze medalist Hermawan Susanto as the reserve singles player instead of Alan for a team made up also of world's top three singles: Joko Suprianto, Ardy Wiranata and Hariyanto Arbi.

Soerjadi, PBSI chairman, said upon announcing the Indonesian Thomas Cup and Uber Cup lineups on Saturday that Hermawan had managed to keep his performance steady.

Both the Thomas and Uber Cups finals will be staged at the Senayan indoor stadium from May 10 to 21.

Alan will enter the finals as the team's assistant along with national doubles player Danny Kantono. Alan led the Indonesian team in the 1990 meet and played second singles in the country's 2-3 final defeat to Malaysia two years ago.

Hermawan, who will wear the national colors at the championship finals for the third consecutive time, capped his 1993 performances with only one title, in Hong Kong. He reached the semifinal at the All England, only to lose to Ardy. Hermawan played a pivotal role in producing an All Indonesian final at the 1992 Olympics and the world championships last year.

The Thomas Cup doubles lineup includes All England champions Rudy Gunawan and Bambang Suprianto, no relationship to Joko, and their runner-ups Rexy Mainaky and Ricky Subagja. Veteran doubles specialist Eddy Hartono was named the substitute.

With 15-year-old Mia, who stole a set before going down to China's Ye Zhaoying in last month's All England, staying on the bench, world champion Susi Susanti, Yuliani Sentosa and Yuni Kartika form the nucleus of Indonesia's Uber Cup singles squad.

Lili Tampi, Finarsih, Eliza and Zelin Resiana will make up the doubles contingent, with another veteran, Rosiana Tendean, taking the team's reserve slot.

"Those are our best teams which are expected to live up to our long-time dream of unifying both coveted trophies," said Soerjadi. China has been the only country to produce a double, doing so three times in a row from 1986-1988.

Soerjadi also against arguments on the final lineups. "The players were chosen through deliberations involving coaches, PBSI officials and players," he said without elaborating on the standards used for selection.

Malaysia

Meanwhile, Malaysia named an extra ordinary squad with three doubles players powering its Thomas Cup title defense campaign. Rashid Sidek will lead the holders made up also of singles shuttlers Ong Ewe Hock and Asian champion Foo Kok Keong, and doubles specialists Cheah Soon Kit, Soo Beng Kiang, Razif and brother Jaelani Sidek, Tan Kim Her and Yap Kim Hock.

"It is part of our strategy to retain the Thomas Cup and it will be a surprise to the opponents," Badminton Association of Malaysia (BAM) president Abdullah Fadzil Che Wan said.

Finalists are allowed to register up to nine players for the biennial tournament which will contest three singles and two doubles matches. Usually, each team enrolls four singles specialists and five doubles players.

Former champion China picked world junior champion Sun Jun to back up Liu Jun, Dong Jiong and Xie Yangchun in the singles. Chen Hoyong and Chen Kang spearheaded the doubles team which included Huang Zhanghong, Jiang Xin and Yu Qi. (amd)