More relaxed Ricky, Rexy swing for Olympic gold

JAKARTA (JP): Four years ago, Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky carried a heavy burden as Indonesia's sole remaining hope for a gold medal at the Olympic Games in Atlanta.

With increased motivation and hard play, they managed to defeat Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock of Malaysia in a do-or-die match to win the country's only gold.

Now both shuttlers are more relaxed as they prepare for the Sydney Olympics.

"Who doesn't want to win another gold at the Olympics? Of course we do, especially because this is our third Olympics. But we are aware of our poorer physical condition. I'm 32 now and Ricky is 29. We are very different from four years ago," Rexy said at a luncheon on Friday.

"Being underdogs at the Olympics makes us more relaxed. Like it or not, the Indonesian Badminton Association is not relying on us. It is focusing its attention on Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan, the top seeds, and Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian, the third seeds. So are our competitors."

Ricky said: "Four years ago we were the hunted ones. Everybody was eager to beat us. But now we have nothing to lose. We will only try to perform our best.

"Let our rivals underestimate us. It gives us an advantage and increases our motivation to show them we still exist."

In their first Olympic appearance in 1992, Ricky and Rexy were only able to reach the quarterfinals of the Barcelona Games, bowing out to South Koreans Park Joo-bong and Kim Moon-soo.

Ricky and Rexy are seeded sixth for the Sydney Games, which will take place from Sept. 15 to Oct. 1.

They received a bye in the first round, and in the second round will face the winner of the match between Martin Lundgaard Hansen and Lars Paaske of Denmark, and Svetoslav Stojanov and Michail Popov of Bulgaria.

Should the Indonesians win, they likely will then play world champions Kim Dong-moon and Ha Tae-kwon of South Korea in the quarterfinals. If they reach the semifinals, they could face top seeds and current world number one Candra and Tony.

"We face tough matches beginning in the second round. But I don't want to think about the whole competition. I want to focus on each match.

"The competition is getting tougher and tighter now. But we are in very good condition compared to the regular Grand Prix series. I won't take our defeats in the series seriously as long as we don't lose in the Olympics," Ricky said.

Rexy hoped the younger Indonesian shuttlers would be able to control their emotions at the Olympics, with its charged atmosphere that is very different from regular events.

"In the Olympics, shuttlers must be able to handle the pressure. We were very tense in the final back in 1996. That almost cost us a gold medal. We were lucky to be able to handle it and bounce back to win," Rexy said.

Partnering for the first time in 1990, the doubles pair climbed to the top of the world rankings in 1993, peaking with their gold-medal performance in the Olympics. However, the pair never won gold at the Southeast Asian Games, the only title missing from their collection.

Despite their recent poor form, many people still consider Ricky and Rexy one of the most dangerous teams in the world.

However, they will say goodbye to fans after the Asian Badminton Championships here in November. Rexy will begin coaching the England team in January, and Ricky will marry national swimmer Elsa Manora Nasution next month.

Rexy said he hoped Indonesian shuttlers would be able to create an all-Indonesian final in the Olympics.

"It's important for the younger players to continue the gold medal tradition at the Olympics, particularly in badminton," said the father of two. (yan)