KONI chief warns of poor preparation of shuttlers

KONI chief warns of poor preparation of shuttlers

JAKARTA (JP): Chairman of the National Sports Council (KONI)
Wismoyo Arismunandar has reminded national shuttlers of the
dangers of poor preparation, warning them that it might make the
nation's gold target in the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney
unattainable.

Wismoyo was commenting on the shuttlers' failure in the All
England badminton championship over the weekend, which Indonesia
returned home empty-handed.

Wismoyo, who took a brief visit to Birmingham last week, said
on Monday that in his opinion Indonesian shuttlers were not
physically and mentally prepared and their motivation to be
champions was lacking.

"The Chinese shuttlers and the other winners were better
prepared than us. They were motivated to win. They were
enthusiastic. We have to learn from them. We have to boost our
physical stamina, mental abilities and motivation to win," he
said.

He called on the shuttlers to learn from their failure, and
use it to revive their motivation for the Olympics. He said that
he would invite Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI)
officials for an evaluation.

"The failure must stimulate the shuttlers to try their best in
the Olympics. They may lose at the All England, but they have to
show the world that they can win in the Olympics," he said,
adding he was still optimistic that national shuttlers could
dominate the Olympics.

China's Xia Xuanze and Gong Zhichao won the men's and women's
singles titles. Xia beat Indonesian Taufik Hidayat 15-6, 15-13,
and Gong beat teammate Dai Yun 11-5, 8-11, 11-5.

The world's strongest women's doubles pair of Ge Fei/Gu Jun
capped China's domination after overcoming the South Korean pair
of Chung Jae-hee and Ra Kyung-min in straight sets, 15-5, 15-3.

South Korean swept the mixed doubles and men's doubles titles.
Kim Dong-moon and Ra beat Liu Yong and Ge 15-10, 15-2, in the
mixed doubles final while Ha Tae-kwon and Kim upset teammate Lee
Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung 15-4, 13-15, 17-15 for the men's
doubles title.

Big hope

Separately, PBSI training director Christian Hadinata said
Indonesia could only predict its gold chances in the Olympics
after the Thomas and Uber Cup championships in Malaysia in May.

"We have to win the Thomas Cup, particularly our men's
doubles, because they are our big hope. They have to be champions
if we want to show the badminton world that we still exist," he
was quoted by Antara as saying on Monday.

Wismoyo said he was expecting Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan
to win the men's doubles because they were currently the world's
top pair. Candra and Tony lost to Ha and Kim, the world no. 2
pair, in the semifinals in Birmingham.

"I have strong expectations that Candra and Tony can win the
men's doubles final. They used to outclass Ha and Kim but they
gave up to the same pair. We need to find out why," he said.

He also said China's men's singles coach Tong Sinfu used to
coach the Indonesian shuttlers when he lived in Indonesia.

"Tong really understands Taufik. He can read Taufik's strategy
well and he knows how to stop him. Well, that's called strategy.
We once refused to grant Indonesian citizenship to Tong and now
he has become like a boomerang for us," he said.

For the first time in the 100 years of the championships, not
one European made the final of any of the five events -- a
worrying statistic in an Olympic year -- and only four reached
the semifinals out of a possible 32, Reuters reported on Monday.

Defeats suffered by world number one Peter Gade of Denmark and
his fiancee Camilla Martin, the women's world champion, deepened
the gloom. England's defending mixed doubles champions Simon
Archer and Jo Goode also bit the dust.

It is only six months to the Olympics but Martin for one is
thinking of taking a break after her straight-games defeat by Dai
in Saturday's semifinals.

Gade had won his previous six tournaments but fell in the
quarterfinals to another of the seemingly endless stream of
Chinese talent. The defending champion told reporters: "I'm not a
machine, I'm a human being."

Come the Olympics, Atlanta gold medalist Poul-Erik Hoyer-
Larsen should be back on board for Denmark after missing the All
Englands to help nurse his wife through illness.

But at 32 he faces a formidable task, leaving Gade and
possibly ex-world champion Peter Rasmussen to fend off the might
of China and Indonesia.