England to rely on doubles players
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will decide its lineup in the opening campaign of the Sudirman Cup mixed team event against England on Tuesday morning at the latest.
"We are waiting for the second batch of arrivals this afternoon before holding an internal meeting which will include all coaches: head coach Christian Hadinata, deputy team manager Hadi Nazri and myself," team manager Karsono told The Jakarta Post from Seville, Spain by telephone.
Indonesia will have a day off on Monday and will face England on Tuesday and Denmark, the runner-up in 1999, on Wednesday.
Indonesia's second batch -- comprising men's singles Taufik Hidayat and Marlev Mainaky and the three men's doubles of Candra Wijaya, Sigit Budiarto, Tony Gunawan, Halim Heryanto, Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian and coach Herry Imam Pierngadi -- left Jakarta on Saturday evening.
They will join other national shuttlers who have tested the San Pablo Stadium in official training sessions.
"We still have three hours before the match to decide the team lineup. I think our opponents will also submit their lineup at the same time as ours," Karsono said.
Team doctor Michael Triangto told the Post that all the shuttlers had managed to adjust to the conditions in Seville.
"Everybody is doing well and no one is suffering any injuries. We hope they can maintain their condition during the event."
England will face Denmark in Group B and China will challenge Sweden in Group A on the first day of matches on Monday.
Kompas quoted England's doubles coach Rexy Mainaky of Indonesia saying that Denmark was ensured two points from the men's and women's singles.
"Denmark has world number one Peter Gade Christensen in the men's singles and world number one Camilla Martin in the women's singles," he said.
In Seville, Spain, AFP reported Gibraltar's badminton authorities had lost a legal battle to take part in this week's world championships under its own name following a row with host Spain.
The British territory had sought to overturn a ruling by the IBF which saw them entered for the competition as a neutral team.
But the international Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) has ruled against a case lodged by the Gibraltar Badminton Association (GBA) on the eve of the championships.
The Gibraltar contingent will now participate as a neutral team, and will march under the flag of the IBF in the opening ceremony at the San Pablo Sports Stadium later on Sunday.
The CAS ruling follows a long-running battle which erupted between Spanish authorities and the GBA earlier this year.
Organizers of the world championships granted Gibraltar "playing" participation, stressing the territory's officials would not be allowed to take part in the opening ceremony or have their flag on display.
The GBA rejected the conditions placed on entry and demanded the same treatment as every other team taking part.
Efforts by the IBF to mediate in the dispute broke down when Spain's foreign ministry stepped in on May 8 and banned Gibraltar from taking part in any way, saying it contravened Spanish law. (nvn/yan)