All England defeats prompt introspection
All England defeats prompt introspection
JAKARTA (JP): The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI)
called psychologist Singgih Gunarsa back to his old job yesterday
as it gears up for its Thomas Cup and Uber Cup world team
championship titles defense.
The association's athlete development head, Mangombar
Ferdinand Siregar, said Singgih would help national shuttlers
analyze their weaknesses that cost them their campaign in the All
England championships in Birmingham over the weekend.
Indonesia came home empty-handed from the championships after
its only finalists, the make-shift men's doubles team of Candra
Wijaya and Tony Gunawan, fell to South Korea's Lee Dong-soo and
Yoo Yong-soon. The poor result was a repeat of last year's event.
"Our shuttlers fall short in making quick decisions on the
court during a tournament because they cannot recognize their
weaknesses and evaluate their play in every match," Siregar said.
Singgih was a regular advisor of national shuttlers but quit
after the Sudirman Cup world mixed team championships and the
World Championships in Glasgow last May.
"The shuttlers must not underestimate the need of analyzing
their performance in each match. They and their coaches must take
notes on the match," Siregar said.
He said the association would also ask for help from
nutritionists and sports experts from the National Sports
Council's sports science center.
He said the failure at the All England championships would not
affect Indonesia's bid to retain both the Thomas and Uber cups in
Hong Kong from May 15 to May 24.
"We're underdogs at the championships, but we'll take
advantage of this status. We're eying the Thomas and Uber cups,
instead of the All England," he said.
Indonesia won both the world championship trophies in 1994 and
1996, although it was considered an underdog at those events as
well.
Siregar said PBSI would announce its team members for the
biennial world team events after the Swiss Open, which takes
place this week. (yan)