Indonesia set to defend Thomas Cup
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia still has a chance, albeit slim, to defend the badminton men's team Thomas Cup title next month in Guangzhou, China, the top official at the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) said on Tuesday.
"We all know that our men's shuttlers have not won a title at several badminton Grand Prix events this year. The exception was Marlev Mainaky, who took the title at the Swiss Open," PBSI chairman Chairul Tanjung said.
"But we must also remember that our shuttlers have a different spirit when it comes to team events representing Indonesia. The shuttlers may not have fared well in the individual events, but I'm sure they will give their best at the Thomas Cup."
The Thomas Cup and the women's team event, the Uber Cup, will take place from May 9 to May 19 at Guangzhou's Tianhe Sports Center.
Chairul was speaking at a media conference held at the headquarters of Trans TV, of which he is the president commissioner.
PBSI has yet to announce the lineups for the Thomas and Uber Cups, but Chairul hinted that the top three shuttlers on each squad had already been penned in for the singles matches.
"We already have Hendrawan, Marlev and Taufik Hidayat for the Thomas Cup singles. Budi Santoso, Rony Agustinus and junior Sony Dwi Kuncoro will compete for the last place," he said.
For the men's doubles, the team will rely on the veteran pairings of Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto, and Halim Heryanto and Tri Kusheryanto. The third pairing is likely to be Bambang Suprianto with either Nova Widhianto or Wahyu Agung.
"In the Uber Cup, Lidya Djaelwidjaja, Ellen Angelina and Atu Rosalina are the top three shuttlers. We will choose the fourth from Yuli Marfuah and Dian Novita Sari," he said.
For the Uber Cup doubles, PBSI will rely heavily on Deyana Lomban and Vita Marissa. Emma Ermawati might partner Minarti Timur, while the third doubles team is likely to be drawn from the ranks of the second-tier players.
Meanwhile, PBSI has scheduled a second round of simulation matches for its Thomas and Uber Cups squads on Saturday in Batam, Riau.
The first simulation matches took place in Bandung for the Thomas Cup squad and at the Indonesian Badminton Center in Cipayung, East Jakarta, for the Uber Cup squad late in March.
"But this time there will be a slight difference for the Uber Cup shuttlers. They will not face fellow national shuttlers, but instead we invited Singaporean shuttlers to play against them.
"The Singaporean women should be strong enough to serve as opponents as most of them come from mainland China," Chairul saidl.
Batam has been named as an alternative site in PBSI's bid to host the 2004 edition of the Thomas and Uber Cups. The last time Indonesia hosted the event was in 1994 in Jakarta.
"PBSI has prepared US$1 million for its bid to host the 2004 event. Batam is an alternate venue to Jakarta, in case the domestic political situation is heated up because of campaigning for the general election.
"We are trying to set the date (for the Thomas and Uber Cups) long before or after the election. But should this fail, Batam would be a good choice. We can house all the shuttlers in neighboring Singapore and ferry them to Batam," said Chairul.
It takes less than 30 minutes to travel between the two islands by ferry.