Indonesia must not lose awareness: Christian

Indonesia must not lose awareness: Christian

By Primastuti Handayani

KUALA LUMPUR (JP): Indonesia's head coach Christian Hadinata
said on Monday national players must not lose their heads in
their opening match against Sweden in the Thomas and Uber Cup
Championships at the Putra Indoor Stadium on May 11.

"Sweden's first singles player Thomas Johansson could be very
dangerous for us. While its first doubles pairing of Par-Gunnar
Jonsson and Peter Axelsson are very experienced in team events,"
said Christian in his hotel room.

"In their position as underdogs they will play with nothing to
lose against defending champions Indonesia."

Christian said the shuttlers were not allowed to underestimate
Sweden and England, which are also in the yellow group alongside
with Indonesia and China.

"We must learn from our experience in the 1984 Thomas Cup
championships, where we were almost lost to England before
winning 3-2. It taught us to be aware of our opponents."

"There is no reason for us to underestimate them because they
have just returned from the European Championships. It's very
dangerous for us to feel on top."

Christian said he would evaluate all the shuttlers'
performances in the matches against Sweden and England before
deciding which of them would play against China.

As the defending champion, Indonesia aims to retain the Cup
for the 12th time and the fourth time in a row. On paper at
least, the country looks likely to reach the semifinals along
with China.

In the blue group, host and defending champion Malaysia will
play Denmark, which aims to become the first non-Asian country to
bring home the cup, along with dark horses South Korea and India.

Christian said the host country had the advantage of playing
before a home crowd with the motivation boost that involved.

"We know that Malaysian shuttlers often play better before
their home crowd. Malaysia is one of the strong candidates to
bring home the Thomas Cup."

Perfect condition

Psychologist Juanita Nasution said the shuttlers were in
perfect condition and they had shown better teamwork compared to
1998.

"I see our Uber Cup team is really integrated this time. Two
years ago we really dependent on Susy Susanti and Mia Audina but
now our shuttlers have equal skills and positions in the team."

"The experience in the qualifying round in New Delhi in
February, where they were on the edge, did wonders for their
togetherness."

Juanita said she could see no gap between the senior and
junior members of the team.

"In the Thomas Cup, only Taufik is new but he is already
mingling with others. There's no awkwardness at all."

The team practiced in the four-court stadium on Monday
afternoon.

Women's doubles pair Elysa Nathanael and Deyana Lomban and
men's singles Taufik Hidayat all said the venue was excellent and
spacious.

"I think it's really difficult for us to concentrate as it is
so big," Elysa said.

However, Christian said the shuttlers must be able to control
the situation in the stadium.

"They must deal with the lights, the shuttlecocks, the wind
and the weather. They are professional shuttlers. Other teams
also face the same problems. We can't use those factors as
excuses."

Juanita said she was encouraging athletes to practice
visualizing the upcoming matches in a packed stadium.