Asiad badminton may see all-Indonesian final

Asiad badminton may see all-Indonesian final

JAKARTA (JP): Whoever Indonesia will field in the Asian Games
badminton men's singles competitions in Hiroshima starting on
Oct. 2, an all-Indonesian final is in sight.

"Performance wise, Indonesia is most likely to create an all-
Indonesian final," Icuk Sugiarto told The Jakarta Post yesterday.

Organizers of the Games allow each participating country to
send only two players for each badminton competition. Badminton
offers seven gold medals in individual and team events.

For Indonesia, which is home to world number one Joko
Suprianto, number two Hariyanto Arbi and number three Ardy B.
Wiranata, selecting two of them is not as easy as counting one to
three.

Ardy, though ranked the world's number three by the
International Badminton Federation (IBF), tops the World Grand
Prix rankings.

Icuk, the 1983 world champion, said the three top players are
still one step ahead of Malaysia's triple Commonwealth champion
Rashid Sidek or the Chinese rising star Dong Jiong. Hence, Icuk
added, he was confident that an all-Indonesian final is at hand.

"Hariyanto is very good on the attack, particularly his
smashing jumps," Icuk said. "Unlike never-say-die Ardy, Hariyanto
often succumbs to defeat once he finds himself in the quagmire.
On the other hand, Joko has very good, versatile strokes, which
give him a good mastery of the court."

Icuk, praising Ardy's performance at the Indonesia Open last
month, saying that Hariyanto is better at other championships,
added that the three equal each other in quality and none seem to
significantly outdo the others.

"Hence, the fittest will have the greatest chance to win,"
Icuk said when asked about who has the greatest chance to take
the Games men's singles laurel.

Ardy wore the men's crown at the Indonesian Open, his third
title this year. Previously, Joko triumphed in the Malaysian
Open, while Hariyanto won the World Cup in Vietnam.

One of the national coaches, Triaji, said earlier on Thursday
that the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) will single
out two of them in the final countdown to the matches.

"We'll see which two of them are the most prepared for the
games," Triaji said, adding that the three will form the backbone
for the men's team, with Hermawan Susanto named as the reserve.

World and Olympic champion Susi Susanti, Triaji said, will
certainly be chosen to play both in the women's singles and
women's team.

However, the second and third players for women's singles will
be picked from amongst Yulianti Sentosa, Ika Heny and Yuni
Kartika. For women's doubles, the names Lili Tampi/Finarsih and
Eliza/Zelin are already been on the list.

Men's doubles team, according to Triaji, will comprise of
Ricky Subagja/Rexy Mainaky and Bambang Supriyanto/Rudy Gunawan. A
new combination of Bambang and Hermawan Susanto will also join
Ricky/Rexy in Indonesia's bid to win the men's doubles gold.

Mixed doubles will be held by Rudy Gunawan/Eliza and
Bambang/Zelin, Triaji added. (arf)