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.