RI won't send sick athletes to England

JAKARTA (JP): The Badminton Association of Indonesia will not send sick or unprepared athletes to the All England Badminton Championships, according to men's doubles coach Atik Djauhari.

Atik said yesterday that Denny Kantono, who usually partners Antonius in the third men's doubles would not compete at the annual event in Birmingham, England, which runs from March 11 to March 15, because he had influenza.

"It's impossible to expect Denny to recover in less than one week. We prefer to replace him with Eng Hian, who usually partners Hermono," he said. "Although Antonius has never partnered Eng Hian in a tournament before but I'm sure they can gel well."

The association decided last week to replace world champion Sigit Budiarto, who usually partners Candra Wijaya, with Tony Gunawan due to Sigit having a problematic ulcer.

"Sigit has recovered but he has a toothache now," Atik said.

Candra/Tony are competing at the Swedish Open from March 4 to March 8 before joining the national squad in Birmingham.

The association has been preparing Hariyanto Arbi, Budi Santoso, Indra Wijaya, Hendrawan and Ardy B. Wiranata in the men's singles and Susi Susanti, Mia Audina and Meiluawati in the women's singles.

Candra/Tony, Ricky Subagja/Rexy Mainaky and Antonius/Eng Hian will compete in the men's doubles, Elyza/Zelin Resiana, Deyana Lomban/Indarti Issoliana in the women's doubles and Bambang Supriyanto/Risyeu Rosalina and Tri Kusharjanto/Minarti Timur in the mixed doubles.

Three managers, Indra Gunawan, Imelda Wiguna and Atik Djauhari, will accompany the athletes, who leave for the championships tomorrow.

The association's athletes development director, Mangombar Ferdinand Siregar, said that the All England would be the best test of other countries' strength for the Thomas and Uber Cup championships in Hong Kong in May.

Hariyanto, seeded sixth at the All England, said that he hoped to reach the final and saw Danish and Chinese shuttlers as his toughest rivals. He only reached last year's semifinals.

"China's Sun Jun and Dong Jiong and Dane Poul-Erik Hoyer- Larsen will be my toughest rivals at the championships," said Hariyanto, who aims to win his third title at the event.

Men's doubles player Rexy said that he and Ricky hoped to win their third title.

"It will be a great moment for me if I can win this year before I retire," he said, declining to mention when this might be.

The association's chairman, Subagyo Hadi Siswoyo, expressed his hope that the shuttlers would evaluate their failures in previous tournaments to ensure perfect performances at the All England.

"We can't lose because of unforced errors, it's better if we lose because our opponents are better," said Subagyo, who is also the Army Chief of Staff.

Subagyo said the association was working on internal regulations at the National Badminton Center in Cipayung to deal with undisciplined athletes' punishment.

"The regulations will also be applied when athletes compete in tournaments under the supervision of team managers and coaches," he said.

Subagyo said the association hoped Japanese sports equipment manufacturer and main sponsor Yonex would pay its contract in U.S. dollars due to the association's need to send athletes to tournaments abroad.

Yonex has a US$1 million annual contract with the association and hands over $250,000 every quarter. (yan)