Olympics best hopes Candra, Tony set for big battle

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's best hope in the Olympic's badminton event, men's doubles Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan, have had near-perfect preparations for the Games, according to the training director of the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI), Christian Hadinata.

"Candra and Tony are never satisfied with routine preparations. They have been adding extra training sessions prior to the event.

"They are not over-excited or over-confident about winning the gold medal. They just don't want to waste time in gaining self- confidence," Christian said on Friday.

Candra and Tony, the world number one doubles team, are favored to bring home the gold.

Tony said earlier if they had to settle for the silver, they would have failed in their mission.

Christian, a former doubles specialist himself, said he was not worried the players would be burdened by the expectations.

"They have always considered all the possibilities in every move. They want perfect preparations. They just want to get better and better in every tournament.

"You remember how guilty Candra was when he and Sigit Budiarto lost in the Thomas Cup semifinals against Denmark. He didn't event want to see the last match," he said.

Candra vented his anger in the locker room following that loss. And even after Indonesia won its 12th Thomas Cup title by beating China 3-0, he still was unsatisfied.

"If Indonesia lost to Denmark in the semis, it would have been my fault," he said in May.

Christian said the shuttlers inability to accept defeat made them that much stronger in tournaments.

Besides Candra and Tony, Indonesia's Olympic badminton squad will include the world number two team of Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian, and the world number five team and 1996 gold medalists Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky.

"Both Flandy and Didi (Eng Hian's nickname) have changed a lot in character and in their daily activities, particularly after they were excluded from the Thomas Cup team," he said.

PBSI opted to include Sigit and Antonius Budi Ariantho in their place.

"They were excluded due to their instability on court and their easy-going behavior off the court. They started to have a vision of their future in badminton. Their runner-up finish at the Indonesia Open and victory in the Malaysia Open boosted their spirits and made them strong candidates to bring home the Olympic gold," said Christian.

Flandy and Didi have been known for being moody. They have the ability to beat the best pairs in the world when they are in a good mood, but they can also lose to team ranked much lower than them if they are in a bad mood.

"Flandy and Didi don't feel guilty after losing a match. That's the difference between them and Candra and Tony," Christian said.

However, Didi said after winning the Malaysia Open there was nothing in the world that would dampen their ambition to win gold in the Olympics.

"We know that Candra and Tony are the country's best hope. But that doesn't mean we don't have a chance. With the spotlight on them, we have less of a burden. It's a very good position for us." (yan)