Indonesia takes up China offer of dual meet

Indonesia takes up China offer of dual meet

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

China threw down the gauntlet and Indonesia eagerly picked it up,
agreeing to a dual badminton meet on Dec. 23 and Dec. 24, the
country's badminton governing body (PBSI) announced here on
Wednesday.

"China initiated it and we decided to send a full team to the
meet to be held at a small town near Shanghai," PBSI chairman
Chairul Tanjung said.

Chairul said Indonesia's acceptance of the challenge was a
gesture of goodwill after Indonesia decided to skip the China
Open, which has been rescheduled from October to Dec. 17 through
Dec. 22.

"As an expression of my appreciation for their appearance in
the Indonesia Open, I would love to have sent players to the
China Open. But the timetable would have clashed with our
internal programs. If (the tournament) had been held as
previously scheduled we probably could have taken part," he said.

PBSI is hosting a national tournament in Bandung from Dec. 17
through Dec. 22, during which a national congress will also be
convened.

"We can't postpone our own programs. However, even though we
are unable to take part in the China Open, we still want to show
our goodwill by taking up their challenge for a dual meet. And
China appears to be enthusiastic about our availability for the
clash," Chairul said.

The meet will use the same format as the Thomas Cup, the men's
team competition of which Indonesia is the titleholder.

Asked why China invited Indonesia to take part in the clash,
Chairul said: "They want to make amends for their flop in the
recent Thomas Cup and vent their disappointment on the champion."

At the 2002 Thomas Cup last May in China, Indonesia defended
its title for a fifth consecutive time, beating Malaysia in the
final. China fell by the wayside in the semifinals.

For the China meet, Indonesia will send Taufik Hidayat, Sony
Dwi Kuncoro and Taufiq Hidayat Akbar in the singles, and Chandra
Wijaya/Sigit Budiarto and Trikus Heriyanto/Halim Haryanto in the
doubles.

Taufik Hidayat and Sony made it to the finals of the Asian
Championship last week in Bangkok, with Sony coming out on top.

Chairul said the China meet would provide US$6,000 for the
winner and $2,000 for the loser of each match.

"That's a good amount of prize money. We just play once and
already are assured of at least $2,000," Chairul said.

He said the inclusion of Taufiq Akbar and Sony in the lineup
instead of Hendrawan, as China had expected, was part of PBSI's
long-term preparations for the 2004 Olympics in Athens.

"We are eager to push both players to see if they can rise to
the challenge of the Olympics," Chairul said, adding that
Hendrawan, who was a silver medalist in Sydney, was still nursing
an injury.

The Olympics will feature the top 16 players in the world
rankings in each category, and Chairul said Indonesia hoped to
have three players qualify in each category, the maximum number
allowed for a country.

"If we have three players in the competition it will ease our
way into the finals once we have reached the semifinals," Chairul
said.

Badminton takes pride of place in Indonesia's sporting world,
being the only sport in which the country has won Olympic gold,
dating back to the 1992 Games in Barcelona.