Deyana, Indarti reunion brings hope for Indonesian squad

JAKARTA (JP): The reunion of Deyana Lomban and Indarti Issoliana for the five-star Japan Open Badminton Championships women's doubles next week brings new hope for the Indonesian national squad, especially in the run-up to the Sudirman Cup in Seville, Spain, in May.

Women's doubles coach Paulus said after a training session at the Indonesian Badminton Center in Cipayung, East Jakarta, that the new partnership would be the best option for ending the country's title famine in this section.

"Indarti and Deyana reached the world number-four spot in both 1996 and 1997. I really hope they can regain their top form. This is also to prepare them for the Sudirman Cup," he said.

Deyana and Indarti were accidentally partnered again in the 1999 Sudirman Cup in Copenhagen. Unfortunately, they had to bow out to Danes Helene Kirkegaard and Rikke Olsen.

Regarding the poor form of the women's shuttlers, the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) chairman Subagyo Hadisiswoyo said in January that the association would prefer the shuttlers to focus more on the World Championships and not worry so much about the Sudirman Cup.

Indonesia only won the cup when it was held for the first time in Jakarta in 1989. South Korea took the cup twice before China took over in 1995, a position it has maintained until now.

Deyana and Indarti managed to win both the 1996 Thailand and German Opens and were runners up in the 1997 Singapore Open.

In 1998, former coach Imelda Wigoena decided to partner Deyana with Elysa Nathanael and Indarti with Carmelita -- a decision which was then criticized by many observers. Since then, the women's doubles have been in the doldrums.

"I won't burden them by setting high targets for the Japan Open because I realize that they will need time to adjust to each other. Besides, they only have two weeks for preparations," Paulus said.

Both Deyana and Indarti said they were surprised with the new partnership arrangement.

"I was very surprised when Paulus told me that I will partner Indarti in the Japan Open. He also assured me that it's a permanent partnership," Deyana said.

"I believe we won't have any trouble in adjusting technically... but we must start to build up the trust between us on court. And that takes time."

Indarti expressed optimism that they could reach the semifinals of the Japan Open in Tokyo, which runs from April 3 through April 8.

"My target is to reach the semifinals. I'm confident that we can regain our past glories. I just hope that it's really a permanent partnership."

Indarti and Deyana will face Britons Rebecca Pantaney and Joanne Wright in the first round. If they win, they will likely face seventh seeds Shizuka Yamamoto and Seiko Yamada.

Should they manage to reach the quarterfinals, they are likely to come up against second seeds Kirkegaard and Olsen.

However, Deyana hoped that badminton fans in the country would not expect too much from the new partnership.

"We really want to win tournaments as we did before but I hope that badminton fans won't expect too much from our first appearance." (yan)