Mia not in lineup in RI vs. Holland Uber Cup opener

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

A much-awaited contest in the world's women's badminton team competition Uber Cup between Indonesian and the Netherlands here next month might not be as highly charged as expected after Mia Audina was reported on Tuesday not to be included in the lineup for that match.

Mia helped Indonesia win the Uber Cup in 1994. She capped a rare feat of winning a silver medal at the 1996 Olympics before switching allegiance to the Netherlands four years later after getting married.

The next Uber Cup, which will be staged concurrently with the men's competition, the Thomas Cup, will see the return of Mia to a scene with which she must already be familiar.

With Indonesia grouped with the Netherlands, along with defending champion China, 25-year-old Mia, who took the European Championship title last week, could be destined for an emotional clash.

However, it won't happen, at least in the first stage of the competition, as she was confirmed not to be in the Netherlands lineup against Indonesia.

"I was told by the Netherlands team that Mia would not be playing against Indonesia," Ivana Lie, Indonesia's women's coach, said here on Tuesday.

With China seemingly unstoppable to top the group, Indonesia will relish the challenge of taking second place to advance to the next stage.

"With Mia not featuring in the lineup against Indonesia, we should have better prospects of marching past the Netherlands," she said.

However, she said she had prepared the team for any outcome.

She said: "Even if Mia played, the team would be ready for her because we know her tactics."

Indonesia's first choice in the singles is Silvi Antarini, who, had Mia been playing, would have taken her on. She said she was familiar with Mia's play, having met her twice before.

She is now likely to have to tackle Yao Jie.

Silvi speculated on Mia's planned no-show, saying that the latter did not wish to be booed by Indonesian supporters.

In her first return to Indonesia after she decided to play for her new country Mia lost to Linda Djaelawidjaja of Indonesia in the 2000 Indonesia Open.

The championships will run from May 7 through May 16. Indonesian men will be looking to defend the trophy they have won five consecutive times.

Their female compatriots will fancy themselves for a semifinal place, but prospects look dour after the players' performance in the run-up to the tournament.

Silvi, Maria Kristin and Adrianti Firdasari crashed early at last week's Asian Championships in Kuala Lumpur, in which their male compatriots triumphed by setting up an all-Indonesia final in the singles and doubles.

The team moved to Hilton Hotel on Tuesday. They were supposed to start their training session later in the afternoon but it had to be canceled due to fumigation in the Bung Karno Indoor Stadium.

Wednesday's training session is scheduled to start at 3 p.m. for the Uber Cup team, followed by that for the Thomas Cup team at 7 p.m.