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)