RI shuttlers pullout may hamper SEAG goal

JAKARTA (JP): The recent withdrawal of Indonesia's women's doubles players Etty Tantri and Carmelita will jeopardize the country's hopes of winning five out of seven golds up for grabs at the Kuala Lumpur Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in September.

"We are facing a difficult time now. The Indonesian Badminton Center has been lacking women's shuttlers and now available athletes have decided to quit," the center's training director Christian Hadinata told reporters on Tuesday.

"In the SEA Games, we are relying on the women's singles and doubles players to grab two golds. Their resignation will impact on our chances at the event, but we won't revise our target."

At the 1999 Games in Brunei Darussalam, Chindana Hartono won gold in the women's singles while Etty and former partner Cynthia Tuwankotta grabbed the women's doubles gold. Their wins added to three other golds won by the team.

Christian pointed to the players' ineffective performance at international events over the last two years as the main reason behind their decision.

"I can understand if they have lost their motivation as they have always lost in international events, especially when facing Chinese shuttlers," Christian said.

Etty, who partnered Vita Marissa, will study in the United States while Carmelita, who partnered Emma Ermawati, will study fashion design in Paris. Both players submitted their resignation letters late June.

"We have secondary players in the women's doubles but their quality is far below that of their seniors. We could team them up with the seniors but it will have to be coordinated with the women's doubles coach and the juniors' coach," Christian said.

Separately, Carmelita told The Jakarta Post that she was disappointed with coach Paulus's unfair treatment.

"I'm always separated from my partner when we are about to get better. When partnering Indarti Issoliana, we managed to reach the 1999 Singapore Open final but we were split up and I teamed up with Deyana Lomban last year.

"Earlier this year, Paulus decided to separate us, partnering Deyana with Indarti for the Sudirman Cup. He partnered me with Emma Ermawati, who is focusing on mixed doubles, so I often trained by myself if Emma was still training in the mixed doubles.

Stabbed

"I don't know why he did that but I felt like being stabbed in the back. I don't feel comfortable during training anymore," Carmelita explained.

Besides the women's doubles, Indonesia would also likely lose its domination in the men's doubles as Eng Hian, who is partnering Flandy Limpele, has yet to show up at the center after returning home from the World Championships in Seville, Spain, in early June.

Flandy and Eng Hian are also being groomed for the Games. They failed to win gold at the 1999 Games, losing to Thailand's Pramote Teerawiwatana and Tesana Panvisvas.

"I have asked coach Herry Imam Pierngadi to look for Eng Hian. He should have informed us about his absence. We have yet to discuss their separation but it's being considered.

"Compared to two other duos -- Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto, and Tony Gunawan and Halim Heryanto -- neither Flandy or Eng Hian have become playmakers. Therefore, their performance is very up and down.

"If we want to split them, we must seek a junior whose skill is close to theirs. But it's still just a possibility," Christian said.

Eng Hian told the Post that he had returned home to Surakarta, Central Java, for about three weeks and had come back to Jakarta on Sunday.

"But I still skip training because I caught a cold. Hopefully, I'll get better soon," he said. (yan)