Shuttler Ellen resigns from national squad
JAKARTA (JP): Following her poor performance at the All England Championships two weeks ago, Indonesia's number two women's shuttler, Ellen Angelina, resigned from the Indonesian Badminton Center.
Ellen submitted her resignation on Monday to officials at the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI).
"Ellen submitted her resignation letter to me, (PBSI) chairman Subagyo Hadisiswoyo, (PBSI) official in charge of athlete development Mangombar Ferdinand Siregar and (PBSI) training director Christian Hadinata," women's singles coach Verawaty Fadjrin said on Tuesday.
"She explained in the letter that she wanted to resume her studies and also that she was getting older and was no longer satisfied with her level of play.
"I think it is the best solution because it would be a waste of time for her and useless for me (to coach her) if she already had the intention to resign."
Of the three national women's shuttlers who competed in the All England, Ellen had the poorest result, being routed by unknown Chinese shuttler Wang Rong 11-0, 11-3.
Ellen had reportedly lost her desire to train since returning home from England, and was skipping her afternoon training sessions.
With her resignation, Indonesia now has three active women's singles shuttlers at the badminton center: Lidya Djaelawidjaja, Yuli Marfuah and Atu Rosalina.
Two other women's shuttlers, Cindana Hartono and Ninik Masrikah, are restricted to limited training because of injuries.
Christian said he had received Ellen's resignation and accepted it as an honest decision.
"Our women's singles division is indeed weak and Ellen realized her own weaknesses. It is a similar situation to the men's doubles pair of Ricky Achmad Subagja and Antonius Halim, who decided to resign from the center earlier this year," he was quoted as saying by Antara.
"We will soon select junior shuttlers to fill the vacancy left by Ellen. It will depend to their potential and suggestions by coaches and athlete development officials."
Mixed reaction
In a separate matter, national shuttlers were mixed in their reaction to the postponement of the 2000 World Grand Prix Finals, which were scheduled to take place from March 28 to April 1 in Brunei.
Men's doubles shuttler Candra Wijaya said he was disappointed by the delay because he felt his form was peaking in time for the event.
"I arranged my training schedule to reach my peak for the Grand Prix Finals at the scheduled date, although I have set myself a higher target for the World Championship to be played in Seville, Spain, in May," he told The Jakarta Post after a training session at the national badminton center in Cipayung, East Jakarta.
"However, I will take the advantage of being able to concentrate more on the Japan Open from April 3 to April 8."
Candra's doubles partner for the Grand Prix Finals, Tony Gunawan, said he regretted the cancellation because it meant a lost opportunity to improve his world ranking with new partner Halim Heryanto.
"If only we knew that the Grand Prix Finals would be canceled, we could have competed in the Swiss Open to improve our ranking for the World Championships in May," said Tony, who recently won the All England with Halim Heryanto.
"Well, look at the positive side. We can prepare better for the Japan Open. The problem is when will they have the 2001 Grand Prix Finals?"
Candra and Tony are in a difficult group for the Grand Prix Finals, with compatriots Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian, Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah of Malaysia, and Kim Dong-moon and Ha Tae- kwon of South Korea.
Mixed doubles shuttler Minarti Timur said she had trained with former partner Tri Kusheryanto for the event and was confused by the delay.
"(The International Badminton Federation) delayed the Grand Prix Finals several times and now plan to stage last year's event in August. If the 2001 Finals are rescheduled for December, then they are too close." (nvn)