Marriage won't stop Susi competing in All England

JAKARTA (JP): Despite her wedding on Feb. 23, Indonesia's top badminton player Susi Susanti said she was ready to compete in the women's singles at the All England championship in Birmingham from March 10 to March 15.

"I will try my best to perform well in the All England and certainly try to capture the title again. My marriage will not prevent me from playing badminton and I will certainly take part in the championship," Susi said Sunday at a birthday party for Soerjadi, the chairman of the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI).

Susi is to marry fellow shuttler Alan Budikusuma. They both won the singles gold medals at the 1992 Olympics in Barcelona.

Susi captured her first All England singles title in 1990 and retained the title the following year. But in 1995 and 1996, she only managed to advance to the semifinals where she was beaten by Gong Zichao of China and Indonesia's rising star Mia Audina.

Susi's participation in the upcoming All England has surprised officials at the badminton association. Iwan Setiawan, one of the officials, said recently it was possible that Susi would not take part in the All England because of her honeymoon.

Iwan said it was up to Susi to decide whether to enter the All England. "If Susi is ready to play, PBSI will register her with the organizers."

Susi has hinted that she would miss the All England, pinning Indonesia's hopes on world number one Mia Audina.

"Mia is our main hope not only to win the championship but also to motivate other players," Iwan said.

Mia has won the Japan Open and was a semifinalist at the Taipei Open, where she lost to Camilla Martin of Denmark. Mia skipped the Korean Open, where no Indonesians reached the finals.

Iwan said Indonesia was relying on Joko Suprianto to win the men's singles title at the All England. Joko, the world number one, has missed several recent international events since getting injured at the Grand Prix in Bali.

Joko is now training for the All England and Swedish Open.

"Joko's appearance in the All England is very important for him because he is defending his title. For this reason, he has been undergoing an intensive series of training," Iwan said.

Since October, Susi has been partnering Finarsih in women's doubles competitions.

Susi said she had no intention of retiring when asked whether she would quit badminton after her marriage.

"For the next two years, I have no plans to have a baby, but I will continue playing badminton," Susi said.

Motivation

Indonesia's top men's doubles Rexy Mainaky and Ricky Subagdja both said they were not in their usual top form, as observed by their recent poor performances.

"We admit that our performance in the past months was due to our poor motivation. Now, Ricky and I have agreed to be highly motivated for this year," Rexy said.

Rexy said they would use the All England as a test case of their motivation to win.

"All England is one of our targets besides the world championship," Rexy said.

He added that since competing in the China Open they had only won the Bali Grand Prix and the Japan Open in Tokyo in January. (lnt)