RI hopes for five SEAG golds in badminton
by Primastuti Handayani
JAKARTA (JP): From the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games to the Olympics, badminton has always been the one sure bet for Indonesia at multisport events to contribute gold medals.
Which is why the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) sparked such a controversy with its plan to field a squad of second-string shuttlers to compete at the 20th SEA Games in Brunei Darussalam from Aug. 7 to Aug. 15.
The National Sports Council (KONI) was against the plan and urged PBSI to field one of its top three players: Hendrawan, Budi Santoso or Taufik Hidayat.
KONI said the 19-year-old Taufik had the most potential to lead Indonesia to a sweep of the seven badminton gold medals on offer at the event. Such a sweep would go a long way toward helping Indonesia earn at least 70 gold medals and retain its overall SEA Games title.
KONI official in charge of athlete development Mochammad Hindarto said Indonesia would face a tough challenge from arch rival Thailand in its bid to retain its overall title.
"It's really difficult to win a gold medal. If badminton can contribute seven golds, why should they only win five? That's why we expect Taufik to join the squad," he said.
PBSI had insisted it would not send Taufik to Brunei for the Games because he was focusing on qualifying for the 2000 Sydney Olympics. As part of these qualifications, he will compete in the Singapore Open from Aug. 25 to Aug. 29 and the Indonesia Open from Sept. 1 to Sept. 5.
However, the second-string shuttlers' poor performance in the Malaysia and Thailand opens earlier this month forced PBSI to reverse its decision and name Taufik to the SEA Games squad.
Jeffer Rosobin, who was expected to be the squad's standout player, lost to Malaysians Rashid Sidek and Wong Choon Han in the respective tournaments.
Taufik, a finalist at the All England tournament, is expected to triumph over the Malaysians shuttlers, including rising star Wong Choon Han, the 1998 Commonwealth champion and a 1999 Malaysia Open finalist.
Indonesia also hopes Taufik will help Indonesia take the gold in the men's team event.
PBSI expects its shuttlers to win gold medals in women's singles, women's doubles, women's team, mixed doubles and men's team.
Due to Taufik's participation in the biennial event, doubles specialist Imam Tohari was dropped from the squad.
Taufik expressed reservations about his participation in the event, saying it would disturb his preparations for the Singapore and Indonesia opens, which serve as qualifiers for the Olympics.
"If only PBSI had told me earlier, I could have better prepared myself. Now I have less than a month for the Games, while I also have to concentrate on both the Singapore and Indonesia opens.
"It's not that I don't want to fight for my country, but I was shocked by the sudden announcement. Me and my coach must change my training program," he said.
PBSI official in charge of athlete development Mangombar Ferdinand Siregar said although Taufik was competing in the SEA Games, it would not disturb his training for the Olympic qualifying events.
"We will work hard to overcome his faults in the remaining training sessions. I'm sure he is ready for the SEA Games," he said.
The women shuttlers will face their less powerful rivals from Malaysia and Thailand in Brunei.
Thailand's Sujitra Eakmongkolpaisarn could be the dark horse who will threaten Indonesian supremacy. Sujitra, who reached the 1998 Asian Games quarterfinals, is very good around the net, women's singles coach Liang Chiusia said.
She said Indonesian shuttlers must be very patient and force her to play from the baseline. "If they want to put pressure on Sujitra, they have to make sure they are ready at the net. Otherwise, she will control the game."
One of the women's doubles teams of Etty Tantri/Cynthia Tuwankotta and Indarti Issoliana/Emma Ermawati is also expected to take a gold medal.
Originally, Emma was to partner Vita Marissa. However, Vita had to be hospitalized for appendix surgery, and had to be replaced on the squad.
Head coach Christian Hadinata said although Indarti and Emma had never played together before, they would not have any problems adjusting for the Games.
They are professional players, so they will be able to adapt to each other soon. Besides, we hope the gold will come from Etty and Cynthia," he said.
Badminton team members
Men's: Taufik Hidayat, Jeffer Rosobin, Ronny Agustinus and Johan Hadikusuma (singles); Flandy Limpele, Eng Hian, Halim Heryanto and Agung Wahyu (doubles).
Women's: Cindana Hartono, Lydia Djaelawidjaja, Ellen Angelina and Yuli Marfuah (singles); Etty Tantri, Cynthia Tuwankotta, Indarti Issoliana and Emma Ermawati (doubles).