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.