RI believes Sudirman Cup semis a certainty

RI believes Sudirman Cup semis a certainty

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) is optimistic of
securing a semifinal berth in the 9th Sudirman Cup in May
following the announcement of the draw on Monday.

PBSI's head of development affairs Icuk Sugiarto said
Indonesia held a chance to win the mixed team event but conceded
it would depend on wins by its men's singles, men's doubles and
mixed doubles.

"At present, we will study our players because we hope they
will be in top form when the Sudirman Cup is held in May," he
said.

"I hope Taufik Hidayat, Candra Wijaya/Sigit, Luluk
Hadiyanto/Alven Yulianto, Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir will be at
their best to make them very difficult to beat."

He said China was still the favorite in the Sudirman Cup with
strong players in all divisions.

"All countries, including Indonesia, that will compete against
China should be ready to lose two matches in the women's singles
and women's doubles because the Chinese players are so strong at
the moment," he said.

"But we could have a chance to steal points from the men's
singles, men's doubles and mixed doubles."

He said 16 players -- consisting of five men's doubles
players, three women's doubles players, three mixed double
players, three men's singles and two women's singles -- were
registered for the Sudirman Cup, but he did not name them.

A source at PBSI said likely team members were Taufik Hidayat,
Soni Dwi Kuncoro and Simon Santoso in the men's singles, Adrianti
Firdasari and Maria Kristin in the women's singles, Candra/Sigit,
Luluk/Alven, Flandi Limpele in the men's doubles, Jo Novita/Lita
Nurlita and Greysia Polii in the women's doubles, and
Nova/Lilyana in mixed doubles.

The International Badminton Federation (IBF) and the China
Badminton Association announced on Monday that Indonesia was with
China, Hong Kong and Sweden in Group 1B of the Sudirman Cup, to
be held May 10-15.

Korea, Denmark, England and Thailand are in Group 1A, with
Korea and Denmark favorites to advance to the semifinals.

The cup is named after Indonesia's "father of badminton", who
headed PBSI during the country's dominance of the sport in the
1950s-1970s. Sudirman died at age 64 in 1986.

Indonesia won the inaugural event in Jakarta in 1989, Korea in
1991 and 1993, with China taking it on the next four occasions
before Korea regained the cup in 2003.