PBSI to reconsider Olympics target
PBSI to reconsider Olympics target
JAKARTA (JP): Disappointing play by Indonesian shuttlers in
the US$120,000 V6 Danish Open in Vejle, Denmark, last week has
caused some worry at the Badminton Association of Indonesia
(PBSI).
The PBSI official in charge of athlete development, Christian
Hadinata, said on Monday that due to the poor results in Denmark,
the association would have difficulty setting its targets for the
2000 Olympics in Sydney.
"We expected them to reach the finals and improve their world
rankings. We'll have difficulty predicting their future
performances due to their inconsistent play in tournaments. Their
up-and-down form is really shocking. Although we have some time,
it's difficult to set a target with their inconsistent form," he
said.
The women's doubles team of Elysa Nathanael and Deyana Lomban
were the only Indonesians to reach the semifinals of the four-
star tournament, where they bowed out to China's second seeded
pairing of Gao Ling and Qin Yiyuan. The Chinese duo went on to
win the title, defeating compatriots Chen Lin and Jiang Xuelian
15-12, 15-8.
Christian focused on the poor form of Indonesia Open champion
Lidya Djaelawidjaja, who crashed out in the first round in
Denmark to qualifier Sun Jian of China.
"We expected her to gain more self-confidence by winning the
Indonesia Open. Lidya has speed and good technical skills which
can trouble her opponents. I'm not sure if her poor form was
caused by a lack of confidence or something else."
In the men's singles, Indonesia failed to send one of its
shuttlers to the semifinals. Third seeded Taufik Hidayat fell in
the quarterfinals to veteran Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark,
who eventually won the tournament with a 17-15, 15-4 victory over
Wong Choon Han of Malaysia.
Fourth seeded Hariyanto Arbi also fell in the quarterfinals,
losing to Wong, while seventh seeded Marlev Mainaky failed to
repeat his success over Peter Gade Christensen of Denmark, losing
to the tournament's second-seed in the quarterfinals.
"On paper, one of our men's singles should have reached the
semifinals or even the final. Taufik cannot lose to Hoyer-Larsen,
who is about twice as old as him. And Marlev could not show that
his victory over Gade Christensen in the Indonesia Open was not a
fluke.
"In the men's doubles, only newcomers Ade Lukas and Santoso
Sugiharjo showed good form by eliminating sixth seeded Zhang Wei
and Zhang Jun of China. Unfortunately, their veteran teammates
were disappointing. Flandy and Eng Hian, top seeded here, should
not have lost to unseeded Martin Lundgaard and Lars Paaske, while
second seeded Antonius and Denny Kantono must not lose to Jim
Laugesen and Michael Sogaard," Christian said.
Lundgaard and Paaske won the doubles title by defeating
Laugesen and Sogaard 15-13, 15-10 in an all-Danish final.
"The top and second seeded teams losing in the semifinals to
less powerful doubles teams is pathetic. They did not show their
world-class technical skills.
"But I'm somewhat happy because Lukas and Santoso managed to
reach the quarters. It showed that they have the potential to
replace the veteran players in the future," Christian said.
Camilla Martin of Denmark took the women's singles title on
Sunday, defeating Zhou Mi of China 8-11, 11-3, 11-1, while
China's mixed doubles team of Liu Yong and Ge Fe bested
compatriots Zhang Jun and Gao Ling 15-12, 17-14. (yan)