Deyana, Indarti reunion brings hope for Indonesian squad

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)