Marriage won't stop Susi competing in All England

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)