Olympic champ looks to inspire W. Java at PON
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.