Shuttlers ready for team event
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Busan, South Korea
The Indonesian men's doubles coach and shuttlers said Tuesday that they were ready to face the men's team event competition in the Busan 2002 Asian Games, emphasizing that they were familiar with all the opposition shuttlers and their styles.
"The competition will be very similar to that in Guangzhou, China, when we defended the men's team event in the Thomas Cup in May," coach Herry Imam Pierngadi told reporters at the athletes' village on Tuesday.
"We are better prepared now than we were in the Singapore Open and the Indonesian Open when we failed to take the men's doubles title."
In the Singapore Open, Candra Wijaya and Bambang Suprianto lost to Korean pair Kim Dong-moon and Ha Tae-kwon. Teamed up with Sigit Budiarto, Candra suffered another defeat in the Indonesian Open going down to former teammates Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian, who were playing for England.
"Basically, each participant's strength will be relatively the same unless there is an injured player.
"But we could still rotate our doubles players when needed," said Herry.
Indonesia in now considered the strongest country in the men's doubles event and the doubles shuttlers have saved Indonesia on numerous occasions, although Candra no longer pairs Tony Gunawan.
Both Candra and Toni were the Sydney 2000 Olympics men's doubles gold medalists.
The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) decided to split Candra and Toni up after the Sydney Olympiad in order to form more formidable men's doubles pairs.
The PBSI has been rotating its men's doubles shuttlers frequently ever since.
Candra was paired once again with his old partner Sigit, meaning a resurrection of the pairing that grabbed the 1997 world championships title.
However, the No. 1 Indonesian pair have been off form for the past several tournaments.
"It depends on how you look on it. If it was the Indonesian and Singapore Opens, it is true. But you must remember we did not have good preparation after the Thomas Cup," said Herry.
"But now we have sufficient preparation for the Asiad."
Herry emphasized that the atmosphere of a team event was more onerous than individual events.
"There is a lot of pressure on the players during a team event as it is more prestigious. The pride of the country is at the stake.
"Meanwhile, in individual events, although it also involves getting medals for the country, it is more of an individual feat," said Herry.
The best example was when Indonesia defended the Thomas Cup five times in a row for the first time. No other country has achieved this historical feat.
No one believed that Indonesia could even appear in the final stages either. But most senior Indonesian badminton officials were sure that Indonesia could still hold the Thomas Cup.
Meanwhile, Sigit Budiarto said that Indonesia had a greater chance in its first match against Thailand.
"Let's say it is 60:40. Well, 55:45 for Indonesia is more likely," he said with a smile.
"We have met all of our competitors, not only Thailand. Therefore, we known all of their strengths and weaknesses."
Sigit also said he no longer bothered by his knee problem.