Indonesia upbeat on defending Thomas Cup title

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Guangzhou, China

The Indonesian teams have expressed confidence that both men's Thomas Cup team and women's Uber Cup squad will be able to reach their best results.

"The shuttlers seem happy without any burden and are ready to fight. We are also glad that our Ambassador Aa Kustia took time to come down from Beijing to see us at Guangzhou airport," Thomas Cup and Uber Cup project manager, Lutfi Hamid said.

"All team members will do their jobs properly and professionally. The officials will do their best to serve the shuttlers so they can concentrate on their matches.

Some participants of 2002 Thomas Cup and Uber Cup finals arrived at the southern Chinese city on Monday to prepare for the biennial event to start at Guangzhou's Tianhe Sports Center on Thursday.

The Indonesian squad has agreed to a ban on all shuttlers' phones in their hotel rooms, the Garden Hotel in central Guangzhou, to keep them focused on their matches.

"The decision was made with the players' consent as they also understand the importance of keeping focused," said Lutfi.

"I must apologize to Indonesian people who can't convey their support directly to the players. Any kind of support can be delivered to the Indonesian team's post command. But we will provide the shuttlers with local cellular phone numbers so they can contact their families for more personal matters," he added.

There are 35 members in the Indonesian team, consisting of 10 shuttlers in each team and 15 officials.

The other teams that have arrived so far are Denmark, Malaysia and the Netherlands.

The Indonesian Uber Cup team will face Hong Kong on Thursday in Group A's qualifying round. The group pits Denmark and the Netherlands, who will also have their first match on Thursday. Group B has Germany, Japan, Malaysia and South Korea. Group B will start their matches on Friday.

The Indonesian Uber Cup team is deemed one of the weakest in history, with no star shuttlers since the 1996 Barcelona Olympics, with women's singles gold medalist Susi Susanti and starlet Mia Audina Tjiptawan in the late 1990s.

Mia, currently world no. 6, now fights for her adopted country the Netherlands which poses a great threat to Indonesia's target to reach the semifinals. As if that's not enough, Denmark's number one shuttler Camilla Martin is back on the court despite earlier news that she had to withdraw due to injuries.

Meanwhile, the Indonesian Thomas Cup team will play against Thailand on Friday in Group B, which also groups Malaysia and Germany. China, South Korea, Denmark and Sweden are in Group A, which starts playing on Thursday.

The Indonesian shuttlers, the defending Thomas Cup champions, will try to make history by becoming the first team to win the cup five times consecutively. They will face a great challenge from host China who already has two other coveted trophies in world badminton.

China won the Uber Cup in Kuala Lumpur in 1998 and the mixed team Sudirman Cup in Seville, Spain last year.