Pressure blamed for loss

Pressure blamed for loss

LAUSANNE, Switzerland (Agencies): Excessive mental strain is
behind Indonesia's poor performance in the ongoing World
Badminton Championships, a psychologist says.

Singgih Gunarsa, who is accompanying the Indonesian shuttlers
during the two-week tournament, said that the players lacked
mental preparation for the tiring competition which will end
today.

"They played with too much on their minds and failed to
overcome their extreme nervousness," Singgih told Antara.

He added that adding that the extraordinary pressure had
adversely affected the players' masterful skills.

Singgih was commenting on defending world champion Susi
Susanti's second straight loss to China's Ye Zhaoying within a
week. He said that such heavy pressure had overwhelmed most of
the Indonesian badminton team members.

Susi also crashed to a shock defeat to Bang Soo-hyun, but
Indonesia went ahead to beat South Korea 3-1 in the Sudirman Cup
mixed team championship semifinals last week.

Indonesia's dreams of bringing back the Sudirman Cup trophy
were dashed on Sunday when Susi and ace men's singles Hariyanto
Arbi lost to give China a 3-0 winning lead.

Indonesia, the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup holder, could face an
even worse ending at the biennial championships after a series of
defeats of its ace players.

The world badminton powerhouse swept three titles, the women's
and men's singles and the men's doubles, in the last world
championships in Birmingham. (amd)