Soerjadi to lead shuttlers to Lausanne

Soerjadi to lead shuttlers to Lausanne

JAKARTA (JP): The chief of the Badminton Association of
Indonesia (PBSI), Soerjadi, will lead the 30-strong national team
at both the Sudirman Cup mixed team championships and the World
Championships in Switzerland.

Winning both titles has been deemed so important that the
chairman of the association will be required to personally lead
the Indonesian team, as was decided at the PBSI meeting on
Thursday.

Soerjadi will be directly responsible for the performance of
the team. He will go to Lausanne, Switzerland, to give moral
support to the shuttlers.

The team will fly to Lausanne in two phases. The first group
will depart on May 13 and the rest on May 17.

At the Sudirman Cup championships, which will be held prior to
world championships, Indonesia will field only two or three
players instead of fielding one player in each of the five
championship events.

PBSI director in charge of organizational affairs, Lufti
Hamid, warned that it would not be easy for Indonesia to nail
victories at the Sudirman Cup Championships. Many of the
participating countries, such as former defending champions South
Korea and Denmark, are more or less equal in terms of player
skills, he added.

Citing Soerjadi, Lufti made it clear that PBSI wants to win
the Sudirman Cup, bring it home and put it next to the Uber Cup
and the Thomas Cup, the women's and the men's badminton supremacy
symbols that Indonesia won last year.

As a figure head for the Indonesian team, Soerjadi will be
assisted by PBSI executive director Sumaryono, who serves as team
leader, and Lufti Hamid.

World badminton maestro Rudy Hartono, Tahir Djide, Liang
Chiusia and Indra Gunawan, the national top badminton coaches,
are also part of the team.

The pack of ace shuttlers to be fielded in both the
championships include world class men's singles Heriyanto Arbi,
Ardy B. Wiranata, Joko Suprianto, Hermawan Susanto, Alan
Budikusuma and Lioe Tiong Ping.

The world strongest men's doubles, Ricky A. Subagja and Rexy
Mainaky, are also part of the team along with teammate doubles
Gunawan and Bambang Supriyanto as well as Denny Kantono and
Antonius.

In the women's singles, Indonesia will rely on badminton queen
Susi Susanti, Uber Cup heroine Mia Audina, Yuni Kartika, Yuliani
Sentosa and Cindana.

In the women's doubles Indonesia will have the service of Lili
Tampi and Finarsih together with Zelin Resiana and Elysa. In the
mixed doubles, it is Trikus Haryanto and Minarti Timur, Aryono
and Riseu, Flandi Lampele and Dede Hasanah who will strengthen
the national team, Kompas reported yesterday. (arf)