KONI wants Taufik on SEA Games squad

SEMARANG (JP): The National Sports Council (KONI) urged the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) to include world number one men's singles player Taufik Hidayat on its squad for the 2001 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala Lumpur.

The KONI official in charge of athlete development, Muchamad Hindarto, said on Saturday that Taufik was not included on the list of 32 shuttlers under consideration for the SEA Games.

PBSI did include Olympic gold medalists Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan on the list.

"If Candra and Tony are included, we hope Taufik and Hendrawan will also join the national squad," he said.

Taufik initially declined to participate in the 1999 SEA Games in Brunei, before changing his mind at the last minute. He went on to win gold in the men's singles and men's team events. (har)