Shuttlers ready for team event

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.