Indonesian women shuttlers say smaller is better

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Women's badminton coach Hendrawan wants his charges to shape up, so he is not allowing the women to compete in any major tournaments for the rest of this year while they focus on their physical conditioning.

"They need to get in shape physically, especially their legs and thighs, in order to be better badminton players," he told The Jakarta Post over the weekend.

Four women's singles shuttlers -- Silvi Antarini, Maria Kristin, Adrianti Firdasari and Francisca Ratnasari -- will only be able to compete in smaller tournaments for the remainder of the year, including the Malaysia Satellite tournament and the two-star Chinese Taipei Open later this month.

"We want to send them to these small tournaments. If they can win there, it will give them the feeling of victory," Hendrawan said.

"It is important to boost their confidence after they have exited recent major tournaments in the first round or in the qualification stage.

"Having self-confidence is a determining factor in whether a shuttler wins or not, in addition to his or her technical skills," he said.

Hendrawan is optimistic his athletes can win the Malaysia Satellite tournament and reach the semifinals at least in the Chinese Taipei Open.

However, he is making one exception for the shuttlers, allowing them to compete in the five-star Indonesia Open next month in Jakarta.

"We hope their physical conditioning will be improved by December so they can get a good result in the Indonesia Open," he said.

For next year, Hendrawan is targeting medals in the 2005 Southeast Asian Games to be held in Manila.

"We do not want to set an unreachable target like winning the world championship. We are just setting a modest target, which is winning any type of medal in the Games," he said. "Then in 2008, we are aiming to bring home the Uber Cup (women's team world championship)."