PBSI brushes aside allegation of favoritism in shuttlers' selection
PBSI brushes aside allegation of favoritism in shuttlers' selection
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
The Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) denied on Friday
any bias in the selection process of athletes for the upcoming
World Junior Championship.
Icuk Sugiarto, who is PBSI's head of development affairs, said
selections were made based on ranking.
"I have no hidden interest in the decision. The nation's
interest comes second to none," the 1983 world champion said,
here on Friday.
He was accompanied by PBSI secretary-general M.F. Siregar and
spokesman Dedi "Miing" Gumelar.
The world championship, which is slated for Oct. 21 to Oct. 30
in Canada, will see team competitions followed by individual
matches.
The team competition will comprise a singles match for boys
and girls, one doubles for boys and singles and mixed doubles.
The PBSI has chosen six boys: Tommy Sugiarto of Pelita Bakrie,
Ahmad Rivai (Jaya Raya), I Made Agung (Tangkas Bogasari), Markus
Wijanu, Ari Yuli Wahyu and Mohammad Rizal from the national
training center.
The six girls are Yuan Kartika (Tangkas Bogasari), Wiwis
(Djarum Kudus), Nintya Kristin (Jaya Raya) and national training
center members Fransisca Ratnasari, Greysia Polii and Heni
Budiman.
The selection of the players recently aroused the suspicion of
Jacob Rusdiyanto, the head of the East Java chapter, that
favoritism and primordialism had contributed to the selection.
The allegation was also directed at the fact that Icuk picked
his son Tommy for the team.
But Icuk countered the allegation, saying that Tommy deserved
inclusion as he is ranked first, based on the players'
performances in four junior tournaments this year.
The four tournaments were the Sangkuriang tournament, Jakarta
Open, Milo Junior Open and Asian Student Championship.
Based on the PBSI's scoring system, Tommy collected a total of
1,224 points to stay at the top of the singles ranking, followed
by Fauzi Adnan of Suryanaga Gudang Garam (SGG) from East Java
with 702, and Hendri W, also from SGG, with 702.
Ahmad Rivai is ranked fourth with 594 points and Stenny Kusuma
fifth with 558 points.
The doubles rankings put Rivai and Ali Rasmara on top with a
total of 1,062 points, followed by I Made Agung and Aditya with
918 points and Linga and Antok of Djarum Kudus with 864 points.
Citing China and South Korea as hot contenders, Icuk expected
the Indonesian team to reach the semifinals at the championship.
For the individual competition, Icuk did not voice great
expectations, saying he would simply encourage them to put in
their best against the world's top players.