Default hand Suryanaga final spot
Default hand Suryanaga final spot
Musthofid and Slamet Susanto, The Jakarta Post/Yogyakarta
Suryanaga Surabaya breezed into the final of the National Mixed Team Championship on Friday as the brewing player eligibility controversy claimed two women players from Putra Cilegon.
The verifying team of the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) ruled that Anik Widyastuti and Erly Wulandari were not eligible to play because the Banten-based club had yet to finalize the letter of transfer of the players from their former club Gajah Tunggal.
Bagus Suprobo and Yudi Kurniawan had defeated Widi CK and Juan Lesmana 15-5, 15-2 to give Suryanaga a 1-0 lead, and the default of Anik and Erly handed the team the women's doubles and singles rubbers and an unassailable 3-0 lead in the best of five match tie.
Cilegon coach Mahfudin Goey, although resigned to the decision, said the team had tried to ensure the transfer went through on time.
"But Gajah Tunggal has yet to send the requested letter. Therefore, when the committee asked about the letter, we couldn't produce it," he told The Jakarta Post.
The two women are the latest among a host of players deemed ineligible to compete. However, many have questioned why the decisions were made only after the event was underway.
The verifying team produced a list of 12 ineligible players, mostly due to a lack of supporting documents on their transfers. Mutiara Bandung, whose campaign effectively ended after its men's doubles player Enroe was declared ineligible, countered that there were at least 40 players with dubious club status.
Suryanaga will meet the winner of SGS Elektrik-Djarum Kudus in the final on Saturday.
M. Rizal and Lelyana Desy Chandra put Djarum in front by beating Flandy Limpele and Lita Nurlita 15-5, 15-8 in the mixed doubles before a 5,000 capacity crowd at Amongrogo hall.
Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat evened the score with a clinical 15-8, 15-5 win over Endra Kurniawan. Djarum regained the lead courtesy of Maria Kristin, who was too strong for her national training center predecessor Yuli Marfuah 11-5, 11-1 in the women's singles.
Lita Nurlia/Monica of SGS made the tie all square by edging Purwati/Rintan Apriliani 14-17, 15-6, 15-12. The decisive men's doubles between Flandy/Taufik and Rian Sukmawan/Jonathan was underway at press time.
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