More relaxed Ricky, Rexy swing for Olympic gold

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)