SEA Games titleholder Sony sets sights on silver this time

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) hopes men's singles titleholder Sony Dwi Kuncoro can at least reach this year's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games final after returning from an injury hiatus.

"We expect Sony to win silver based on his recent performance," national training subdivision head Lius Pongoh said on Thursday of the 23rd SEA Games in the Philippines.

"We told the National Sports Council (KONI) about this and KONI understood."

Olympic and World champion Taufik Hidayat will only compete in the team event in Manila in November, while Sony, 21, and Simon Santoso, 20, compete in the men's singles.

The association says the decision to rest Taufik in the men's singles is to allow for regeneration in the sport.

After recovering from a left foot injury, Sony won the 2005 Asian Badminton Championship in Hyderabad in early September and was a semifinalist at the Indonesia Open later the same month.

Simon upset an out-of-sorts Taufik in the third round of Indonesia Open, but lost to Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand in the next round.

Boonsak and Malaysia's top player Lee Chong Wei are likely to present serious challenges to the Indonesian men.

PBSI will also send Luluk Hadiyanto/Alvent Yulianto and Markis Kidho/Hendra Setiawan in men's doubles, and World champions Nova Widhianto/Liliyana Natsir and Anggun Nugroho/Yunita Tetty in the mixed doubles.

Ardianti Firdasari and Fransisca Ratnasari Hari S are set for the women's singles, with Jo Novita/Gresya Polii and Lita Nurlita/Natalia Poluakan in the women's doubles. Maria Kristin will only play in the team event.

Kristin, who advanced to the quarterfinals of the Indonesia Open, failed to secured a slot in the women's singles event in the SEA Games because she did not play throughout the year.

Lius said the target for this year was three gold in men's doubles, mixed doubles and the men's team competition.

"In men's doubles, our competition will come from Malaysia, while Thailand will challenge us in the mixed doubles," he said.

Women's players are not expected to take the top medals.

"In women's singles, Singapore has two (strong) singles players, Malaysia also has the same," he said. "If our women's singles could win bronze it would be a good achievement."

In women's doubles, Jo, who paired with Lita Nurlita in 2003 to win gold, has a new partner in Gresya.

Apart from the men's singles and women's doubles, the men's team also took gold in Hanoi two years ago.