Indonesia's All England results deemed a disappointment

Indonesia's All England results deemed a disappointment

JAKARTA (JP): The failure of Indonesian shuttlers to achieve
the target of three titles at the US$150,000 2001 Yonex All
England Open has raised concerns about the country's future
participation in international events.

The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) expected to win
titles in the men's singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles. But
Indonesia has only secured a place in the semifinals in the men's
doubles.

"The result is indeed a disappointment for us. The players
should have advanced to the later stages, although it may be
difficult to win the title," PBSI training director Christian
Hadinata told The Jakarta Post in a telephone interview on
Saturday.

"If the shuttlers are not ready, they should just stay home
and not take part in any event until they are prepared," he
added.

Pulella Gopichand, the Indian number one who beat Olympic
champion Ji Xinpeng on Thursday, followed it with a sensational
17-14, 17-15 victory over world number one Peter Gade Christensen
of Denmark. Pulella will face the winner between Malaysian
Muhammad Roslin Hashim and Chinese Chen Hong in Sunday's final,
according to AFP.

The women's singles event will be an All-Chinese affairs with
Gong Zhichao facing her junior Zhou Mi.

Indonesian men's shuttlers crashed out in the third round on
Thursday, while the country's mixed doubles pairs were erased in
Friday's quarterfinals.

Olympic silver medalist Hendrawan, seeded fourth here, was
beaten by Chen, seeded 12th, 15-13, 15-3. And Taufik Hidayat,
twice a runner-up here and seeded fifth this year, was defeated
15-13, 15-10 by 11th seed Anders Boesen of Denmark.

In the mixed doubles, Indonesia's Tri Kusheryanto and Indarti
Issoliana were beaten by top seeded Michael Soogard and Rikke
Olsen 15-7, 15-6, while Bambang Supriyanto and Minarti Timur lost
13-15, 15-10, 15-10 to seventh seeded Simon Archer and Gail Emms
of England.

Christian questioned the sometimes comprehensive defeats
suffered by Indonesian shuttlers at the hands of unheralded
players.

"How could Ellen Angelina lose 11-0, 11-3? And why did Taufik
Hidayat bow out to Anders Boesen?" he said.

"Players at their level should set targets for themselves. It
would be understandable if Taufik lost to Peter Gade or Ji
Xinpeng, but not to Boesen," he added.

"Each player should know their place in the event. At least
they could reach the semifinals."

Last hope

With an all-Indonesian semifinal match in the men's doubles
later on Saturday evening, Indonesia has secured a place in
Sunday's final.

Top seeded Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian will face unseeded Tony
Gunawan and Halim Haryanto in an all-Indonesian semifinal.

In the other semifinal match, the unseeded pair of Candra
Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto of Indonesia will challenge third
seeded Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah of Malaysia.

Christian called this second semifinal match the real final.
"If Candra and Sigit win the match, it means Indonesia will have
secured the title. Case closed. It will be very dangerous if the
Malaysian pair can advance to the final, because all
semifinalists are equal in their skill levels."

"Choong and Lee defeated Flandy and Eng Hian quite easily in
the quarterfinals of the Sydney Olympic. Anything can happen in
the final," he said.

In Thursday's quarterfinals, Tony and Halim easily defeated
the fourth seeded duo of Martin Lundgaard and Lars Paaske 15-4,
15-6. Flandy and Eng Hian followed by topping seventh seeded
Michael Lamp and Jonas Rasmussen 15-10, 15-7.

Candra and Sigit beat the second seeded pair of Jens Erikson
and Jesper Larsen 15-13, 15-18.

Meanwhile, Choong and Lee beat still another Danish duo, the
sixth seeded Michael Soogard and Jim Laugesen, 13-15, 15-11, 15-
6.

Indonesian men's doubles coach Herry Iman Pierngadi said
Candra and Sigit carried a large burden in trying to ensure an
all-Indonesian final.

"The Malaysian pair is their biggest obstacle yet in their
march to the final," he was quoted as saying by Antara news
agency from Birmingham.

Meanwhile, mixed doubles coach Richard Mainaky said Tri and
Indarti were outmatched by their opponents.

"But their accomplishments here were quite good. I expect them
to reach their peak at the World Badminton Championship in
Seville, Spain," he said. (nvn)