Hari needs to build self confident

Hari needs to build self confident

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's Hariyanto Arbi says he is ready for
the India Open badminton championship in New Delhi next week
despite lacking self-confidence.

Hariyanto, nicknamed Hari, told The Jakarta Post yesterday
that he was ready to fight in the tournament although he still
needed to improve his confidence.

"All I can say is that I'll do my best. Physically, I'm fine
but I need more time to adapt to competition conditions," he
said.

Hari, who lost in an early round of the Chinese Taipei Open
last month to unseeded Jeroen van Dick of the Netherlands, said
he would only concentrate on finishing one match at a time at the
tournament from Feb. 12 to Feb. 16.

"I don't want to think about which match I can reach. I just
want to play my best," he said.

Hari is expected to meet Rashid Sidek of Malaysia and the 1996
Olympic gold medalist Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark in the
championship.

"They are both hard to beat. But I don't want to think that
they are unbeatable," he said.

No target

Team manager Tong Sin Fu told the Post that the Badminton
Association of Indonesia had not set a target for Hari, who had
spent the last three months recovering from a hamstring injury.

"There are three problems that Hari has to deal with. First he
has to regain his self-confidence. Hari has not beaten his rivals
recently and it has affected his confidence. He must take part in
many tournaments," he said.

"Secondly, he has to adapt to competition conditions. He has
been resting for three months and it is influencing his
performance. He is very doubtful in returning his contender's
strokes during matches. Third, although he has recovered from his
injury it sometimes still hurts. If that happens, he would not
play his offensive game," he added.

Tong said that Hari was highly motivated for the tournament.

"Sometimes, he practices too much. He becomes very determined
to perfect his strokes ignoring the fact that he's just
recovered," he said.

The 25-year-old shuttler is expected to get a world ranking of
16 to gain a spot in the All England championships.

"If Hari can reach the quarterfinals of four Grand Prix
events, I think he could play in the All England," Tong said.

Hari must compete at the Swedish Open before taking part in
the All England.

"But we'll see his condition after the India Open," Tong said.

The association plans to send Hari, Ardy B Wiranata,
Hendrawan, Dwi Ariyanto for the men's singles; Olivia Herdjijono,
Chindana Hartono Kusuma for the women's singles; Aras Razak/Hadi
Sugianto and Ade Lukas/Ade Sutrisna for the men's doubles; Etti
Tantra Lasmina/Cynthia Tuwankotta for the women's doubles and
Imam Tohari/Emma Ermawati for the mixed doubles.

The national squad is scheduled to depart for India on Feb.
10. (yan)