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)