Germans to aim shots at RI's singles
Zakki P. Hakim and Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post
The German women's team looks to exploit what it sees as the weakness of its Indonesian opponent when the two meet in the playoff here on Tuesday.
German team manager Martin Kranitz said, after observing the match between Indonesia and the Netherlands in their Group W match, his team was looking to take points from the host singles trio.
"They lost all the singles (on Sunday), and they are really a young team," he said.
Germany's No. 1 player Xu Huaiwen said that she was optimistic of winning Tuesday's match. She said she was not worried about playing in front of thousands of home fans.
More local fans are predicted to flock to the Bung Karno Indoor Stadium to give support to the women's team.
"I am very positive about tomorrow. I enjoy playing in such an atmosphere. After all, there is no point in playing with no one watching," she said.
Xu said the team would also have big hopes in doubles teammates Juliane Schenk and Nicole Grether, who displayed excellence in the European qualification match last month.
Assuming the Germans would play the same line-up as in their match against Chinese Taipei, Indonesian singles coach Ivana Lie said that her singles trio had the chance to steal two points from the German singles.
Ivana admitted that Silvi Antarini might encounter difficulties in facing Xu in the first singles, given that Xu has very good agility while Silvi has had to play three games twice, which might affect her stamina.
"Like it or not, the two matches will surely affect Silvi's play on Tuesday," Ivana said while observing the match between Germany and Chinese Taipei on Monday.
She added that Indonesia, however, had the advantage of one day's rest compared to the Germans.
Ivana said, however, Maria Kristin and Adrianti Firdasari had a good chance of beating German's second and third singles, Juliane Schenk and Nicole Grether.
"The two German singles' level is below the Netherlands'," she said.
Despite the defeats, Silvi, Maria and Firdasari have been considered to be improving their play.
"They were playing above their usual level on Sunday, and I believe they will put in a tight match against the Germans," she said.
Doubles coach Paulus Firman said he preferred to meet the Germans rather than Chinese Taipei, as in his observation the German doubles were on a level with the Indonesians, therefore Jo Novita, Lita Nurlita, Gresya Polii and Lyliana Natsir had a better chance of winning.
Team manager Christian Hadinata said the Indonesian girls had done their best after being beaten 2-3 by the Dutch women on Sunday.
"We were just not lucky, and less experienced. The shuttlers need more experience. Hopefully, this match will teach them a good lessons for their next match," he said.
Indonesia fielded mostly young shuttlers without much international exposure both in the individual and team events.
Only Jo Novita and Eny Erlangga played in the 2002 Uber Cup in Guangzhou, China, while Maria Kristin took part in the 2003 mixed team Sudirman Cup in Eindhoven in the Netherlands.
While losing to China is understandable, kneeling before the Dutch women is regrettable as the Indonesian girls had a chance to win. In many games they initially led but were unable to overcome the jinx.
"It is a matter of stress management and match-experience problems," said women's singles coach Ivana Lie.
In Guangzhou, a much stronger Indonesian team was also defeated by the Dutch thanks to Indonesian-born, world no. 4 Mia Audina Tjiptawan. This time around, Mia is absent but Chinese- born, world no. 10 Yao Jie is still an opponent to beat.
"I hope our shuttlers can do much better in the last match," said Christian.