Junior shuttlers to dominate RI Sudirman Cup team

Junior shuttlers to dominate RI Sudirman Cup team

JAKARTA (JP): The Badminton Association of Indonesia indicated
yesterday that it would send a number of junior shuttlers to the
Sudirman Cup and World Championships, both in Glasgow, Scotland,
in May.

Sumaryono, the association's executive director, said that 60
percent of the 43 candidates for both the championships are
juniors.

The final list will be announced after the association
receives the world ranking lists from the International Badminton
Federation on April 1.

"They are all still candidates. We'll make a decision based on
the list from the federation. Not all the senior players will
join the squad. Let's wait and see," Sumaryono said.

The move is part of the association's plan to give more
chances to junior shuttlers in international events.

"If we only field senior players, when will the young
generation get their chance in major international events? We
take the risk of losing by featuring the rookies but it will be
good experience for them in those kind of events," Sumaryono
said.

Indonesia's starlet Mia Audina, newcomers Jeffer Rosobin,
finalist of the 1996 World Cup championship, Budi Santoso, the
1996 Indonesian Open finalist, Indra Wijaya, the 1996 Malaysian
Open finalist, and rising stars Chandra Wijaya/Sigit Budiarto,
who won the Chinese Taipei Open recently, are listed among the
candidates.

Veterans

However, veteran shuttlers including Joko Suprianto, Alan
Budikusuma, Ardy B Wiranata, Hermawan Susanto, Ricky Subagja,
Rexy Mainaky, Bambang Suprianto, Susi Susanti, Finarsih and
Minarti Timur are also named as candidates.

Meanwhile, Rexy Mainaky, who won the Olympic doubles gold with
partner Ricky Subagja, urged the association to decide which was
the priority between the Sudirman Cup and the World
Championships.

"If the association does not give us any target, we'll get
confused because we only have one day's break between the
Sudirman Cup and the World Championships," he complained.

Rexy said that if he could choose he would prefer to fight to
retain his title in the World Championships, which will be staged
from May 26 to June 1, instead of the Sudirman Cup, which is to
be staged between May 19 and May 24.

"The association should also tell the public which is its
priority," he said.

Citing a precedent, Rexy said that Indonesian shuttlers
successfully brought home back the Thomas and Uber Cups in May
but failed in the Olympics shortly afterwards.

But Sumaryono disagreed with his opinion, saying that
shuttlers are not used to multisport competitions such as the
Olympics.

"Remember the 1994 Asian Games where Susi lost to an unseeded
player. I think it was because of the multisport format as they
are not used to playing in such events," he said.

"The Sudirman Cup is a team event and the World Championships
is an individual event. It's hard to predict when our players
will reach their peak," he said.

The IBF rules state that only the top 16 shuttlers are allowed
to take part in the World Championships.

"We're going to boost our juniors' rankings by sending them to
European Grand Prix series events," he said.

The association is to send the juniors to the Sweden Open, the
All England Championship and the Switzerland Open to improve
their world rankings.

"The juniors will be the country's backbone in the future,
hopefully, by the 2000 Olympics in Sydney," Sumaryono said.

"We want to give them a heavier responsibility in team events
before then," he added.

"We'll groom them for the next Thomas and Uber Cup
championships," Sumaryono said.

Owing to preparations for the SEA Games here in October,
Indonesia will skip the U.S. Open slated for September. (yan)