Fans protest shuttlers ban

Fans protest shuttlers ban

BANDUNG (JP): Badminton lovers arrived on Wednesday at the
West Java provincial council, protesting a ban which prevents the
province's Olympics qualified shuttlers from competing in the
15th National Games (PON) in Surabaya next week.

The fans questioned chairman of commission E for social
affairs Ruchiyat Noor over the ban.

"We don't understand why West Java shuttlers, who qualified
for the Olympics, are banned from competing in PON, while taekwon
doins, boxers and archers from Jakarta are allowed to do so,"
said Luky, one of the protesters.

They assumed the ban was to prevent West Java from retaining
the number two position in the PON medals standings.

Ruchiyat said he was unaware of a letter from the Badminton
Association of Indonesia banning the Olympics qualifiers from
competing in PON. (25)