Suryanaga eases into final amid defaults

Suryanaga eases into final amid defaults

Musthofid and Slamet Susanto
The Jakarta Post/Yogyakarta

Suryanaga Surabaya breezed into the final of National Mixed Team
Championship on Friday as the player eligibility controversy
claimed two women players from Putra Cilegon.

The verifying team of the Badminton Association of Indonesia
(PBSI) ruled that Anik Widyastuti and Erly Wulandari were not
eligible to play because the Banten-based club had yet to
finalize the letter of transfer of the players from their former
club Gajah Tunggal.

Bagus Suprobo and Yudi Kurniawan had defeated Widi CK and Juan
Lesmana 15-5, 15-2 to give Suryanaga a 1-0 lead, and the default
of Anik and Erly handed the team the women's doubles and singles
rubbers and an unassailable 3-0 lead in the best of five match
tie.

Cilegon coach Mahfudin Goey, although resigned to the
decision, said the team had tried to ensure the transfer went
through on time.

"But Gajah Tunggal has yet to send the requested letter.
Therefore, when the committee asked about the letter, we couldn't
produce it," he told The Jakarta Post.

The two women are the latest among a host of players deemed
ineligible to compete. However, many have questioned why the
decisions were made only after the event was underway.

The verifying team produced a list of 12 ineligible players,
mostly due to a lack of supporting documents on their transfers.
Mutiara Bandung, whose campaign effectively ended after its men's
doubles player Enroe was declared ineligible, countered that
there were at least 40 players with dubious club status.

Suryanaga will meet the winner of SGS Elektrik-Djarum Kudus in
the final on Saturday.

M. Rizal and Lelyana Desy Chandra put Djarum in front by
beating Flandy Limpele and Lita Nurlita 15-5, 15-8 in the mixed
doubles before a 5,000 capacity crowd at Amongrogo hall.

Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat evened the score with a
clinical 15-8, 15-5 win over Endra Kurniawan. Djarum regained the
lead courtesy of Maria Kristin, who was too strong for her
national training center predecessor Yuli Marfuah 11-5, 11-1 in
the women's singles.

The match in the women's doubles between Lita Nurlia/Monica of
SGS with Purwati/Rintan Apriliani was underway at press time,
with the teams splitting the first two games.

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