Indonesia takes on China in today's battle of titans

Indonesia takes on China in today's battle of titans

By Arief Suryobuwono

HONG KONG (JP): Only the best cut of the Indonesian Thomas Cup
squad will be fielded against China today, Badminton Association
of Indonesia training director Iwan Setiawan told reporters here
yesterday.

"It is a must for us to field our best of the best because
China's Thomas Cuppers make a very strong team. Our world No. 1,
Joko Supriyanto, will certainly lead our team in the first men's
singles," Iwan said.

Today, Indonesia will take on China while Sweden takes on
England in Group A. In Group B, Indonesia's traditional rival,
Malaysia, will lock horns against South Korea and Hong Kong
against European powerhouse Denmark.

Iwan believed China would also take Indonesia seriously and
field its best team. "I think the games between us and China will
be highly exciting. The matches will be very tight, as both have
the world's best shuttlers."

If China fields its best, undoubtedly it will rely on Dong
Jiong, Sun Jun and Li Liwen in the men's singles and its top
duos, Huang Zhangzhong/Jiang Xin and Tao Xiaoqiang/Ge Cheng, Iwan
said.

Coach Indra Gunawan agreed with Iwan. "The final scores will
be of no importance. What's important is that we shall win."

Iwan said China will risk losing the games if it fails to
field Dong Jiong as its men's singles player. "I strongly believe
China has no option other than fielding Jiong," Iwan said. Indra
said that even if China experiments with a weaker team, Indonesia
will still field its best.

Statistics show that Joko, compared to his world No. 4
compatriot Hariyanto Arbi, has more wins over Jiong. In their six
encounters between April 1, 1995 to March 31, 1996, Joko has a 4-
2 winning streak over Jiong. During their most recent meet last
year, Joko was unbeatable. Joko defeated Jiong in the world
championship in May 1995, the Singapore Open 1995 and the Grand
Prix final last December, also in Singapore.

Third singles

As for whom he is to field in the third men's singles, Iwan
refused to mention names. He said that Barcelona Olympic gold
medalist Alan Budikusuma and Ardy Bernadus Wiranata have been
prepared for the third men's singles. "Alan has better world
ranking than Ardy B. Wiranata (Alan ranks sixth, Ardy eighth).
But this does not mean that we play down Ardy," Iwan said.

Referring to Indonesian men's singles players' early exits in
All England held in Birmingham in March, Iwan said that the
terrible losses should have no impacts on their Thomas Cup
performances.

Iwan said that taking on China in the first match on day one
of the Thomas Cup men's team championship would be beneficial for
his team. "That way, the other badminton powerhouses in Group B
-- South Korea and Denmark -- will not be able to monitor our
players completely," Iwan said, "This will facilitate our players
in the other Group A matches."

Meanwhile, the latest world rankings issued by the Interna
tional Badminton Federation as of May 15 show that Joko Supriy
anto crawled back to his world No. 1 spot, which he lost to Dong
Jiong of China on the May 7 ranking lists.

IBF press officer Ashton Sue told The Jakarta Post that the
swapping was just "normal", even if the players in question have
not been engaged in any competition during that one-week period.

As time goes by, the points collected by a player in a given
tournament whose time has been regarded as "expired" will auto
matically change even though the player does not play, Sue said.

In other words, points won in an event are subject to a time
reduction factor within the time frame of April 1, 1995 to March
31, 1996. This means that if the event took place more than 13
weeks ago, points are worth 90 percent of their original value.
If it happened more than 26 weeks ago, they are worth 75 percent
and if it was more than 39 weeks ago, they are worth only 55
percent.