Shuttlers evaluated at Junior Indonesia Open

By Novan Iman Santosa

SURAKARTA, Central Java (JP): Indonesian junior shuttlers will use the US$9,000 Milo Junior Indonesia Open as one of their preparatory events for the Asian Junior Championships in Taipei in July.

"The players have been in the Indonesian Badminton Center for three months. We really expect them to do well here," team manager Joko Suprianto told a press conference on Monday.

"The tournament will serve as part of the selection process for the Taipei Asian Junior Championships team and also to evaluate their progress during training at the center."

"Their performance in Taipei will also be evaluated," said Joko, who is also the juniors' coach.

The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) official in charge of athletes development, Mangombar Ferdinand Siregar, PBSI referee Julius Tetelepta, PT Gematama Kreasindo president director Minarni Soedarjanto and PT Nestle Indonesia AVP Public Relations Brata T. Hardjosubroto were also present at the press briefing.

Asked if the PBSI would discharge shuttlers who put in poor showings during the event or recruit new talents, Joko said the decision did not rest with the coaches alone.

"The PBSI has a talent-scouting team that is responsible for assessing all promising players here and at other tournaments. Basically, we must give the juniors more chances to compete."

Siregar called on PBSI chapters to establish their own training centers to boost the number of local competitions.

"By having more training centers, we can have more players and competitions in the country. It's really important to accelerate the juniors' progress by fielding them together with seniors in important events, including the Sudirman Cup."

Siregar said China and South Korea had fielded their juniors in the World Junior Championships in Guangzhou, China, and in the just concluded Sudirman Cup in Seville, Spain.

Joko regretted the sparsity of foreign shuttlers at the event, saying that the level of competition was not as high as expected earlier.

"Indonesian shuttlers are still expected to reach their best form, especially the seeds."

Malaysia made a last-minute withdrawal last Friday although its shuttlers were seeded in the event.

"We won't change the drawing. The players who are supposed to meet the Malaysians will get byes in the first round. We are not replacing them with other players," Julius said. "All the team managers agreed to this during the technical meeting."

Siregar said the PBSI would wait for the official report on the withdrawal and submit it to the International Badminton Federation.

"It's up to the IBF to penalize Malaysia for their late withdrawal. We've never encountered a similar case like this before."