PBSI says Sudirman Cup underlines deficiencies
JAKARTA (JP): The Sudirman Cup mixed team event reflects the true badminton strength of a country. Indonesia has yet to reach the stage where it can dominate in the event because it is only strong on the men's side, while the women remain a weak link.
This conclusion was, once again, announced by Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) training director Christian Hadinata on Thursday.
"The Sudirman Cup emphasizes five different events. Those events reflect the real strength of a badminton country. If we are only strong in one event and weak in another, it shows that the development (of badminton) in our country is not good," he said, adding that Indonesia is only strong in the men's singles and doubles.
The Sudirman Cup, staged for the first time in Jakarta in 1989, features men's and women's singles and men's, women's and mixed doubles. Each participating country must compete in each of the five events.
So far, only three countries have won the trophy. They are Indonesia in 1989, South Korea in 1991 and 1993 and China in 1995, 1997 and 1999.
In last month's Sudirman Cup, Indonesia failed to reach the finals for the second time after being defeated by host Denmark. Indonesia won the men's doubles and mixed doubles but lost in the women's and men's singles and the women's doubles.
Denmark, which was attempting to become the first European country to win the event, lost in the finals to defending champion China, which made history by becoming the first country to win the event three times in a row.
Christian said Indonesian shuttlers must work harder, particularly the women, to improve their skills before the country can again win the event.
"There's no way we can win if we don't have key players in all five events," he said.
Christian also said the Sudirman Cup, named after the former PBSI chairman, was considered less prestigious than the Thomas or Uber Cups because the event was held in conjunction with the World Championships.
"Somehow, some countries consider the Sudirman Cup a second- class event because they are focusing more on the World Championships, an individual event," he said.
"As the architect of the Sudirman Cup, Indonesia has asked the International Badminton Federation (IBF) to stage the event apart from the World Championships," he said.
During last month's Sudirman Cup, IBF distributed questionnaires to officials from participating countries, asking if the Sudirman Cup and the World Championships should continue to be held in conjunction or be separated.
The questionnaires also asked officials about the qualification format for the championships. Currently, participating countries are divided into seven groups. The six elite badminton countries -- China, Denmark, South Korea, Indonesia, Sweden and England -- are in group I. Malaysia, which was in this group in the last championships, was relegated to group II for this year's championships.
Christian also said the participation of "less powerful badminton countries" showed great enthusiasm for the biennial event.
"It shows that they have a great interest to develop badminton in their own countries. We can't find this in the Thomas Cup," he said.
In the Thomas and Uber Cups, nonelite badminton countries must fight their way through a qualifying round before they can take part in the final round. (yan)