Olympic champ looks to inspire W. Java at PON

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Palembang

The 2004 men's singles Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat is expected to carry on his winning form in Athens when the West Java men's badminton team begins its gold quest at the 2004 National Games (PON) here on Wednesday.

West Java is in group A with North Sumatra, Central Java, North Sulawesi and Central Kalimantan.

"Taufik will definitely play in the preliminary matches on Wednesday and we're counting on him to grab a gold for the team," West Java badminton team manager Herman Subarjah told The Jakarta Post on Tuesday.

Taufik, whose impressive run earned Indonesia its only gold medal at the just-concluded Athens Olympics, will lead teammates against North Sumatra and North Sulawesi in the opening-round matches.

Taufik, ranked fourth in the world, will be the team's first singles player to take to court followed by former national player Marleve Mainaky and Markus Wijanu.

"(Taufik) has already started practicing two days ago and he's looking forward to his first game," Herman said.

The team also has an Olympic medalist in Flandy Limpele, but the North Sulawesi-born 30-year-old shuttler will not play with his medalist partner Eng Hian, instead pairing with Halim Haryanto.

Flandy and Eng Hian won the bronze in the men's doubles event in Athens.

When asked about the team's prospects in the competition, Herman responded diplomatically. Most provinces were competitive in badminton now that the national training center was made up of shuttlers from outside Java.

"But I believe Jakarta, Central Java and East Java are stronger than the other provinces," Herman said.

Jakarta and East Java share places in Group B along with South Sumatra, Lampung and Banten.

In the women's division, Herman rued that national shuttler Greysia Polii could not take part in the Games representing the West Java province due to a dispute with North Sulawesi badminton officials.

"Officials from North Sulawesi have filed a protest against us for listing Greysia as our athlete, therefore, we can't let her play in the Games," Herman said.

Herman said it was unfair for North Sulawesi to claim Greysia as its athlete, as the Manado-born shuttler was listed as a Jakarta athlete before she was transferred to West Java.

"We only knew that she was a Jakarta athlete and her transfer to West Java was according to the proper procedures," Herman said.

The loss of Greysia leaves Herman banking the team's medal hopes on former national shuttlers Yuli Marfuah and Lidya Djaelawidjaja.

"We also have Lita Nurlita in the team and we hope she will be able to perform well in the competition," Herman said.

The West Java women's shuttlers are in Group Q with Central Java, South Sulawesi, South Sumatra, Central Kalimantan and Lampung, while group P consists of Jakarta, Yogyakarta, East Java, Aceh and North Sulawesi.