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)