Danish teen shuttlers eye double's medals
JAKARTA (JP): Denmark will try to surprise Indonesia's teen shuttlers at the Bumiputera Open Badminton Championships, which start at Senayan Badminton Hall today.
Danish coach Soren Selmann told The Jakarta Post yesterday that, in the absence of China and South Korea, his players were set to overcome Indonesia in all doubles events.
"This cannot be said of our singles players," Selmann said. The results of the German Open and the Dutch Open badminton championships in March showed that Indonesia's teen shuttlers were much better than their Danish counterparts.
"We hope we can surprise the Indonesians in some singles events," he added.
On Senayan Badminton Hall's seven courts, 795 shuttlers from 12 countries, including Indonesia, will lock horns from today until July 7.
The shuttlers come from Denmark, Malaysia, Chinese Taipei, Barbados, Brunei Darussalam, Japan, Wales, Singapore, Nigeria, India, Sri Lanka and Indonesia. Asian powerhouses China and South Korea were invited but they declined which, as Selmann put it, "will certainly affect the quality of this tournament." England and Sweden could not attend either.
The championships, with Rp 30 million (US$13,000) in prize money, has three age groups: under 15, 15 to 18, and over 18. Foreign players, however, are only allowed to compete in the second category.
For Danish teen shuttlers, the Bumiputera championships is a sure road to this year's world junior badminton championships in Silkeborg, 300 km west of Copenhagen, which is scheduled from Nov. 19 to Nov. 24.
Their Indonesian counterparts, however, are not assured a place at Silkeborg even if they win the Bumiputera championships, said Karsono, head of the Jakarta chapter of the Badminton Association of Indonesia.
Karsono said it was up to the Badminton Association of Indonesia to decide which players would go to Silkeborg. But he said he wouldn't be surprised if the association selected the Bumiputera championships' winners.
Those selected for the national training camp are potential candidates for this year's world championships. "Yohanes (winner of the 1995 Bumiputera championships) and Rio, who won the national badminton circuit last year, have not been invited to train at the national camp," Karsono said, "while Herry Gunawan, who hasn't beaten Rio in their four matches is in the national camp." Normally, world junior championships selection is made through the so-called national badminton circuit.
The circuit has four legs which are held in four cities: Bandung, Surabaya, Jakarta and Solo. The Bumiputera championships is its Jakarta leg. (arf)