Former star upset about Thomas Cup team
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Recently retired badminton star Hendrawan rued the exclusion of Sigit Budiarto and Halim Haryanto from Indonesia's Thomas Cup team, but admitted that the sport's governing body PBSI must have had a good reason for the decision.
"There was something odd going on behind Sigit and Halim's exclusion from the lineup. It's a very sad thing that they could not make it," Hendrawan, who helped Indonesia win the cup for the fifth consecutive time two years ago in Guangzhou, China, told The Jakarta Post here on Tuesday.
Sigit had been paired with Candra Wijaya before switching to Tri Kusharjanto. With Candra, Sigit became a world champion in 2003.
After parting with Sigit, Candra opted for Halim. They won the Denmark Masters in December, but a string of poor performances in the following tournaments seemed to seal the breakup.
It will be the new partnership of Candra and Tri Kusharjanto at Thomas Cup, which will be held concurrently with its women's version, the Uber Cup in Jakarta from May 7 to May 16.
The other two men's doubles teams are Luluk Hadiyanto/Alven Yulianto and Flandy Limpele/Eng Hian.
Hendrawan, who retired last year due to age and nagging injuries, said it reminded him of the adage "If ain't broke don't fix it"
He said if they were going to pair Candra up with someone new, it should have been Sigit instead of Trikus.
"I have before been together in many competitions with Candra and Sigit. They have great quality as a men's doubles pair," Hendrawan said.
However, he refused to directly criticize PBSI's decision, saying that since he was not around anymore, he did not know what was happening and that PBSI might have a good reason.
Christian Hadinata, the director of the national training camp, earlier said that the doubles' players all had equal strength, but they had to choose three pairs and that two would be left out.
Indonesia is grouped with China and the United States in their Thomas Cup group, which sees 12 teams divided into four groups.
Hendrawan predicted that the Candra/Trikus team might only serve as reserve pair with Luluk/Alven and Flandy/Eng Hian almost certain to be the key pairs.
The singles' spots are occupied by two-time Asian champion Sony Dwi Kuncoro, Taufik Hidayat, Simon Santoso and Wiempie Mahardi.
Meanwhile, Retno Kustiah, a former national coach, said that PBSI had come up with the best female team possible for the Uber Cup which also has 12 teams competing.
But she saw a potentially daunting task by the Indonesian women, who are drawn against defending champion China and The Netherlands.
"These are the best players we've got right now," she said.
"I wish we were in Group C or D. It would be much easier. But it was our bad luck being in Group A," said Retno, who played in the Uber Cup in the 1960s.
Indonesia's Uber Cup team comprises Silvi Antarini, Maria Kristin, Adrianti Firdasari, Fransisca Ratnasari in singles; Jo Novita/Lita Nurlita, Eny Erlangga/Lilyana Natsir and Greysia Polii/Rani Mundiastuti in doubles.
Both Hendrawan and Retno hoped that their successors would be able to benefit from playing on their home.