Coach has little hope for women's squad
Coach has little hope for women's squad
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia looks set for yet another grueling challenge in its
attempt to win the Sudirman Cup, the world mixed team
championship that it won the first time it was held in 1989 but
which has since evaded its grasp.
The difficulty of the mission stems from the fact that
Indonesia, as admitted by coach Ivanna Lie, is suffering from
serious deficiencies in the women's division.
The Sudirman Cup, named after an Indonesian badminton figure,
is played every two years with the format consisting of men's
singles, men's doubles, women's singles, women's doubles and
mixed doubles.
The upcoming edition will be held in Eindhoven, the
Netherlands, from March 18 to March 23.
However, although the Indonesian team will feature its 2002
Thomas Cup-winning squad, the prospects seem gloomy due to the
weakness of the women's division.
"It will definitely be hard work for the women. Their chances
of contributing points for the team will be very slim," Ivanna
said during a one-day seminar, which was co-organized by TV7 and
Bola, at the Santika Hotel here on Monday.
"Hopes for victories will definitely hinge on the men's
singles, doubles and mixed doubles," she admitted.
For the Sudirman Cup, Ivanna said, Indonesia is preparing
eight women's players, only two of whom are seniors. They are
Yuli Marfuah and Dian Novita Sari.
These two are the only seniors remaining in the Cipayung
Training Center following the retirement of ten players: Minarti
Timur, Lidya Djaelawijaya, Indarti Isolina, Deyana Lomban,
Cindana Hartono, Ellen Angelina, Atu Rosalina, Diah Novita, Rosie
Rosiani and Ernita.
They left the training center along with five men's players
last week in a ceremony that also marked the arrival of 28 new
young recruits.
Indonesian women's badminton has been struggling for success
on the world stage since the retirement of Susi Susanti and the
resignation of Mia Audina.
Susi and Mia secured the Uber Cup trophy for Indonesia in
1994. Mia now lives and plays for the Netherlands.
In their absence, the women suffered their worst ever
performance when they failed to qualify for the semifinals at the
2002 Uber Cup in China. Meanwhile, their male compatriots cruised
to five consecutive Thomas Cup titles.
Even while being left far behind by their perennial rivals
from China, Korea and Denmark, the Indonesian women now have to
face challenges from upcoming powers Japan, the Netherlands, Hong
Kong and Thailand.
"Participating in three or four-star tournaments, our players,
who have dropped in the rankings, now have to go through the
qualification rounds in which they have to play two or three
matches.
"They seem to be already drained of energy by the time they
get to the main round. Most of them have gone down in the early
stages in recent tournaments," she added.