Candra and Sigit reunited again
Candra and Sigit reunited again
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Emerging at the age of 22 as 1997 world champions, Candra Wijaya
and Sigit Budiarto stepped out of the shadow of their seniors
1996 Olympic champions Rexy Mainaky and Ricky Subagja.
Their glory days were soon over, however. In 1998, Sigit was
banned from competing for a year by the International Badminton
Federation (IBF), after he was found guilty of using steroids.
The pair was reunited by men's doubles coach Christian
Hadinata in 2001, and they managed to win the Japan Open.
They parted ways after the 2003 World Championships in
Birmingham, England, as Sigit returned home with a knee injury.
But are soon to be reunited for a third time, eying the 2005
World Championships in Anaheim, the U.S., next August.
"I am ready to team up again with Sigit," Candra, who
previously paired with Halim Heryanto, told The Jakarta Post over
the weekend. "We started training together last week and
everything went well. I hope that all three of us (including
Christian) are equally committed, and have the same targets."
Candra and Sigit have their sights set on the 2005 All England
title next February.
"We want to compete in many tournaments and will focus on the
All England and World Championships," Candra said.
Now 29, he realizes they may have less chance of winning those
tournaments than Indonesia's younger pairs of Alven
Yulianto/Luluk Hadiyanto and Hendra Setiawan/Markis Kidho.
"Sigit and I have talked about our target. We agreed to give
it a go for a year, before we decide whether or not to continue
with our partnership," Candra said.
Contacted separately by the Post, Sigit confirmed the reunion
plan.
"Candra and I have talked it over. So far, we're just
practicing together. I don't know yet when we will compete in
international events as a pair," he said.
Christian also declined to elaborate on the plan, saying he
needed to discuss it with the two shuttlers first. "I don't know
when I can announce that they're officially paired," he said.
Candra and Sigit were first paired in September 1996 by coach
Atik Djauhari, after which their careers really took off.
After they spilt up due to the doping case, Candra teamed
with Tony Gunawan in 1998, who is now playing for the U.S. They
won the 1999 All England and Malaysian Open, Chinese Open and
Japan Open in 2000, before finally grabbing the Sydney Olympics
gold medal that same year.
Candra and Sigit teamed up in 2001, but their failure in last
year's world championships separated them again.
The fire-and-ice combination of the two shuttlers --
technically and psychologically -- has created a communications
gap between them. Candra is known as a disciplined shuttler,
while Sigit considers that his great talent allows him to train
as he likes.
As they prepare to reunite, Candra says he has no sour
feelings toward Sigit over their separation.
"I want to show the world that there are no hard feelings --
we're willing to be partners again," he said.