Badminton clean sweep in SEAG

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia is eying a clean sweep in badminton during the Southeast Asian Games in Chiang Mai, Thailand, in December.

Chairman of the Badminton Association of Indonesia, Soerjadi, said at the opening ceremony of the national badminton circuit in Surakarta, Central Java, that Indonesian top shuttlers will encounter no real challengers at the Games.

"Everybody wants our players to sweep all the seven gold medals on offer (in badminton) at the SEA Games," Soerjadi said, as quoted by Antara. Malaysia has denied Indonesia a clean sweep at the past three Games, stealing the men's team crown twice in 1989 and 1991 and the men's doubles in 1993. (amd)