Badminton 2nd stringers to warm up in KL, Bangkok

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian second stringer shuttlers, who are being groomed for the 20th Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Brunei Darussalam in August, will warm up at the Malaysia and Thailand Open tournaments.

The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) has from Wednesday to Friday been staging a three-day selection round to select the competitors in both Grand Prix series events.

PBSI has submitted 14 names to the National Sports Council (KONI).

"But the names still can be changed, depending on the results of the selection. If our nominee fails, we must replace him or her with another player," said the national training director, Christian Hadinata, at the National Badminton Center in Cipayung, East Jakarta, on Thursday.

The 14 shuttlers are men's singles Jeffer Rosobin, Ronny Agustinus, Johan Hadikusuma, men's doubles specialists Flandy Limpele, Eng Hian, Agung Wahyu and Halim Heryanto, women's singles Ellen Angelina, Meiluawati and Yuli Marfuah and women's doubles specialists Etty Tantri, Cynthia Tuwankotta, Vita Marissa and Emma Ermawati.

Christian said the women's and men's doubles players must also play in the mixed doubles event.

"There's no other way because we have a quota on each participating country," he said.

To win the berths to compete in Malaysia and Thailand, the three SEA Games men's singles candidates will have to fight with three contenders, Indra Wijaya, Yudi Suprayogi and Irwansyah for three tickets to both tournaments. Yudi will likely have to bury his dream of playing as he injured his ankle during the round- robin match against Jeffer on Thursday.

In the women's singles, the three nominees, Yuli, Meiluawati and Ellen, must compete with Lidya Djaelawidjaja to take two tickets to Malaysia and Thailand. Cindana will definitely play in the series.

The five-star Malaysia Open will take place from June 30 to July 4, while the four-star Thailand Open starts on July 7 and ends on July 11.

Jeffer praised PBSI's decision to send its second stringers to a multisports event such as the SEA Games.

"This is a good opportunity because we have our responsibility to show that we can also perform our best. I'm ready to become the team's backbone as I think I have enough experience in team events," said Jeffer, a member of the Asia Cup team here in 1997.

Jeffer named Malaysian shuttlers Ong Ewe Hock, Yong Hock Kin, Wong Choon Han and Roslin Hashim as the toughest rivals.

"Our chances are 50-50. I have beaten Hock Kin, Ewe Hock and Choon Han but I have never met Roslin. Hopefully I can contribute one gold to Indonesia's contingent," he said.

Women's singles coach Liang Chiusia said the only strong contender for Indonesia's women would be Sujitra Eakmongkolpaisarn from Thailand.

"Sujitra's defense is really good. Our shuttlers must force her to rally from the baseline before counterattacking. Otherwise, she will control the ball. We can also take advantage of her weak physical condition. But she's a dark horse for our athletes," she said.

Chiusia also criticized her athletes, saying that Meiluawati, a member of the Asian Games team, was stiff in her strokes and that Ellen, who played in the Sudirman Cup team, must reduce her weight to move faster.

Women's doubles Cynthia complained that she lost her power due to a lack of weight training during the Sudirman Cup and World Championships in Copenhagen last month.

"We stayed for three weeks and after we lost we only ran to maintain our physical condition. I'm concentrating to increase my power," she said.

"Etty and I will do our best in the SEA Games although it's our first experience. But we have competed in so many events, I think it's time for us to take the responsibility," she said.

Christian said some key players would also go to Malaysia, and that PBSI told them to aim to win the event.

"We just lost in two major tournaments. It's really important for us to win a title in a Grand Prix series. If we continue to fail, it's really hard for us to get back on our feet again." (yan)