Djarum dominates Jakarta Open

Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta

Djarum Kudus Badminton Club dominated the 18th Jakarta Open by winning six titles out of 12 in the final matches here on Sunday amid suspicion many teams were falsifying the ages of their players.

The tournament, which provided a total of Rp 30 million in cash prizes, was played in four age categories: Under-14, under- 16, under-19 and senior.

The Central Java-based Djarum Kudus, which is renown to produce world-class players, triumphed in the under-14 boys' and girls' singles, under-16 girls' singles, under-19 women's singles, men's doubles and senior men's doubles.

The team also added eight silver medals to its collection.

Suryanaga Gudang Garam brought home three golds while Kutai Kaltim and Jakarta-based club Jaya Raya grabbed two golds and three silvers each.

Lippo took two golds and one silver. Another Jakarta-based club Pelita Bakrie Top One and Sinema Sukabumi were content with a silver each.

Jeffer Rosobin defeated Vidre Wibowo from Kutai Kaltim 15-12, 15-6 in the men's singles of the senior competition to earn East Java its only gold medal from the championship.

Yeni Diah from Suryanaga Gudang Garam won the women's singles, with a 11-4, 11-2 win over Dian Ayu of Djarum.

Former national shuttler Indarti Isoliana, who represented Tangkas Bogasari, paired with Angeline of Kutai Kaltim to win the women's doubles, beating Frida and Firbaya from Djarum 15-6, 4- 15.

Ade Lukas and Hadi Saputra of Djarum brushed aside Hendri KS and Hendra W of Sinema Sukabumi 15-9, 15-11 in the men's doubles.

Unang and Angeline of Kutai Kaltim did not have to work up a sweat to win the mixed doubles after their opponents, Indarti Isoliana and Ade Lukas, withdrew from the match for an unknown reason.

Meanwhile, Icuk Sugiarto, a member of the organizing committee, said he was glad the event went smoothly without any disturbances.

However, he said he believed there were still many cases where participants had falsified their ages.

"Although we (the committee) can't prove the cheating, we can tell from our own eyes that many players look much older than the ages stated in their documents," said Icuk, who is also the head of the Jakarta chapter of the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI)

He urged the PBSI's central board to take the issue seriously. No action had yet been taken to tackle age falsifications, he said.