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.