Poor preparation sends RI out of Sudirman Cup

COPENHAGEN (JP): For the second straight year, Indonesia failed to reach the finals of the Sudirman Cup mixed team championships after losing 2-3 in the semifinals to home favorite Denmark.

"I apologize to Indonesian badminton lovers for failing to bring home the Sudirman Cup. Insya Allah (With God's blessing) we can prepare a better team in the next two years to reach our goal of regaining the trophy," Agus Wirahadikusumah, Indonesia's team manager, said.

With only two weeks of intensive training heading into the major event, not to mention a number of injuries which plagued the team, 1989 Sudirman Cup winner Indonesia was unable to match the experienced Danes in Friday's semifinals.

During the short training period before the tournament, the Badminton Association of Indonesia provided its players rigorous physical training and food supplements. Regular physical fitness tests were conducted on the shuttlers, who also played two warm- up matches to monitor their progress.

Deputy team manager Christian Hadinata said some young players, including men's singles Taufik Hidayat and the women's doubles team of Deyana Lomban and Indarti Issoliana, could not overcome the mental pressure of playing in front of a hostile crowd.

Taufik played below his standards, losing 4-15, 1-15 to Danish world number one Peter Gade Christensen. The Dane also won their last meeting at the All England finals in March.

Deyana and Indarti were beaten 16-17, 7-15 by Rikke Olsen and Helene Kirkegaard in the match which secured the Danes a berth in the finals.

"They were unable to fill their roles as key players," Agus said of the three.

Before Taufik's disappointing performance, Indonesia's mixed pair of Tri Kusherjanto and Minarti Timur gave Indonesia a perfect start by besting Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen 9-15, 15-11, 15-9.

All England men's doubles champions Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan gave Indonesia the lead again with masterful play which proved too much for the Danish team of Jens Eriksen and Jesper Larssen. The Indonesians won 12-15, 7-15.

But world number three Camilla Martin easily outclassed her Indonesian opponent, Cindana Hartono, in the women's singles, coasting to an easy 11-4, 11-6 win to tie the score at 2-2.

Playing before nearly 4,000 spectators who packed the Brondby Hallen, Denmark's women's doubles pair of Olsen and Kirkegaard proved that better preparation and physical endurance were the keys to victory.

Christian was particularly disappointed with Taufik's poor form, saying he could have taken the Dane to the limit.

"I'm afraid his performance today was caused by previous traumatic experiences with Peter. It looks like he tends to give up every time he meets Peter," Christian said.

Taufik has now lost to Gade Christensen in all three of their meetings.

Christian said he hoped that playing the Dane had not become a jinx for Taufik. The same fate befell former Indonesian top player Icuk Sugiarto, who could not overcome Chinese archrival Yang Yang.

Taufik's selection in the semifinals raised the eyebrows of Danish team manager Thomas Lund, who expected to see Indonesian number one Hendrawan play Gade Christensen.

"I don't know why Indonesia fielded Taufik instead of Hendrawan. Maybe because of Taufik's good performance against (Chinese shuttler) Dong Jiong. But you must remember that Peter is completely different from Dong," he said.

Taufik was deemed fit to play the Dane following his straight sets win over Dong in the final Group B match on Thursday, according to Agus.

In the relegation match, Malaysia was thrown out of Group A after losing to Sweden 1-4. In the 2001 Sudirman Cup, Malaysia will be replaced by England, which beat Thailand 3-2. (yan)

Semifinal results

Denmark 3 Indonesia 2: Michael Sogaard/Rikke Olsen lost to Tri Kusherjanto/Minarti Timur 15-9, 11-15, 9-15; Peter Gade Christensen bt Taufik Hidayat 15-4, 15-1; Jens Erikssen/Jesper Larsen lost to Candra Wijaya/Tony Gunawan 12-15, 7-15; Camilla Martin bt Cindana Hartono 11-4, 11-6; Rikke Olsen/Helene Kirkegaard bt Deyana Lomban/Indarti Issoliana 17-16, 15-7

China 3 vs Korea 1: Liu Yong/Ge Fei bt Kim Dong-moon/Ra Kyung-min 15-10, 10-15, 15-13; Sun Jun bt Ahn Jae-chang 9-15, 15-6, 15-7; Gong Zhichao lost to Kim Ji-hyun 9-11, 11-1, 3-11; Zhang Jun/Yu Jinhao bt Lee Dong-soo/Yoo Yong-sung 15-3, 15-5; Zhang Ning/Gu Jun lost to Ra Kyung-min/Chung Jae-hee 15-8, 12-15, 11-15