RI faces daunting Thomas Cup task
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia will face a daunting task in defending its Thomas Cup badminton championship trophy in Hong Kong in May due to a weakened singles team, coach Indra Gunawan said yesterday.
Indra said he was even doubtful that his guards could snatch a point out of the three singles matches to be played in the biennial event.
"It will be difficult for me to decide a befitting lineup for the singles team that can match Malaysia, much less if we play archrival China," Indra said after attending the inauguration of the national squad for the 13th Asian Games.
Indonesia, Thomas Cup winner in 1994 and 1996, is likely to bank on Hariyanto Arbi, Indra Wijaya, Budi Santoso and Marlev Mainaky in the singles matches. Former world champion Hariyanto, the only experienced player, looks to be Indra's first singles choice.
Thomas Cup, like its cofeatured Uber Cup women's championship, involves five matches, three of which are singles rubbers.
Despite having three choices of world-class doubles, Indra said that his present squad was the weakest team he had ever coached.
"I urge them to practice more seriously and always consider they are playing a real game during practice. This will prevent them being nervous when they step onto the courts."
He said a special team to be set up by the Badminton Association of Indonesia would choose the players to compete.
"My job is just to describe the team's strength and the weaknesses of a player. In a major event like Thomas Cup, I choose players who have potential to win rather than my favorite players."
The badminton body will form teams for the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup after the Swiss Open which is now underway and will finish tomorrow.
Former Olympic women's singles champion Susi Susanti said yesterday she was prepared to land Indonesia's third successive Uber Cup title.
Susi, who crashed out in the third round of the All England recently, looks certain to play the first singles because her world ranking outshines those of her juniors.
She is currently third in the world, far ahead of her potential successor Mia Audina who is seventh.
"I'm ready for the Uber Cup. My leg injury has healed and it doesn't hurt anymore when I'm playing."
She said Chinese and South Korean players were much better than Indonesians in individual competitions.
"But Uber Cup is a team event. Anything can happen, merely because it depends heavily on the players' responsibility and teamwork.
"We were underdogs in 1994 and 1996 but we beat top seeded China."
Earlier yesterday, training director of the Indonesian Asian Games team, Muhammad Hindarto, said 61 female and 95 male athletes had joined the long-term training program under the tutelage of 40 coaches.
The athletes will compete in 22 sports at the Asiad in Bangkok.
The sports are track and field, badminton, boxing, canoeing, cycling, equestrian, fencing, soccer, gymnastics, judo, karate, rowing, sepak takraw (a traditional Southeast Asian ball game), shooting, swimming, tae kwon do, tennis, volleyball, weightlifting, wrestling, the Chinese martial art wushu and windsurfing. (yan)