Indonesia to send 4 shuttlers for Copenhagen Masters
Indonesia to send 4 shuttlers for Copenhagen Masters
JAKARTA (JP): The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI)
will send four shuttlers to the Copenhagen Masters invitational
badminton tournament in Denmark later next month, an official
said on Monday.
"We'll enter Johan Hadikusuma in the men's singles and Ellen
Angelina in the women's singles. Tony Gunawan and Halim Heryanto
will compete in the men's doubles," PBSI's secretary general Leo
Chandra Wiranata told reporters in his office.
"The organizers also invited the participation of another
men's doubles and requested for Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian."
The invitational tournament will take place from Dec. 27 until
Dec. 29. It provides a total prize money of 320,000 Danish crown
(US$36,300).
Winners in the singles events will be 30,000 crown richer and
the runner up will bag 20,000 crown. In the doubles event, the
winning pair will get 40,000 crown while the runners up get
30,000 crown.
Leo said actually the organizer invited different entries in
the men's division.
"Initially they invited Budi Santoso in the singles and Candra
Wijaya and Tony Gunawan in the doubles. But PBSI decided to send
other players," he said.
"We are also considering whether to send Flandy and Eng Hian
or not as requested by the organizers. Considering such a last
minute invitation, there must be a pair withdrawing from the
event," Leo added.
When asked why PBSI did not send world number one Taufik
Hidayat -- who has been banned by PBSI to compete in the Korean
Open and the Grand Prix final next year -- to the Copenhagen
Masters, Leo refused to discuss the matter.
"Usually we send shuttlers of lower rank than the invited
ones," he said.
"Speaking of the Korean Open, we may not send any players as
it takes place at the same time as the national inter-club
championships in Banjarmasin, South Kalimantan. Perhaps we'll
only send limited shuttlers to South Korea."
Both the Korean Open and the championships are slated from
Jan. 9 to Jan. 14.
Shuttlers being trained in the Indonesian Badminton Center
(PBI) will be sent home on Dec. 16 to prepare for their
participation defending their respective clubs.
Leo said all national shuttlers, including Taufik, have been
requested to join their clubs in the championships.
"Most of the clubs filed complaints because they can't use
their own players in many events. They accused PBSI of paying too
much attention on international events," said Leo.
"Well, PBSI is now asking the shuttlers to defend their clubs
in Banjarmasin." (nvn)