Susi looks for missing piece in golden jigsaw

Susi looks for missing piece in golden jigsaw

JAKARTA (AFP): Indonesia's ace shuttler Susi Susanti will be
fishing for the title that got away at the Asian Games badminton
contest.

Susi, and world number one ranked male Joko Suprianto, will
lead a likely Indonesian clean sweep of badminton medals in
Hiroshima, is determined the Asiad gold will not escape her this
time.

The tournament is an unofficial world championship as nearly
all the top players are from Asia. Last time, Susi was beaten in
the final by Tang Jiuhong of China.

"This event is important for me because this is the one major
title I have never won," Susi said while taking part in an
exhibition match as part of her preparation for the 12th Asian
Games.

"If I can get the gold in the Hiroshima singles, my collection
of titles will be complete," she said.

The vast array of titles held by the slender 23-year-old lays
witness to her domination of her sport since 1990. It also shows
how far Indonesia, whose women did not get a gold in 1986 and
1990, has come from nowhere to take over the sport.

Susi has won the Barcelona Olympic gold and four titles from
the prestigious All England tournament, three of them clinched
consecutively in 1990, 1991 and 1992 and the last one this year.

She also took the world championship, the Grand Prix and the
World Cup in 1993, which she retained this year.

Indonesia hopes for at least four gold medals in Japan and is
counting on Susi to provide at least one of them. They also
expect to take the men's singles, teams and doubles titles.

"Although on paper, I am at the top of the world's ranking, I
think that the competition in Hiroshima will be very tough,"
Susi said.

Rivals

She knows that all the world's women badminton players will be
taking part.

Susi named South Korea's Bang Soo Hyung and world's number
two, China's Ye Zhaoying, renowned for her steep and fast
attacks, as her main rivals. Bang has defeated Susi twice while
Ye has beaten the Indonesian badminton queen three times.

Susi believes Bang will be the most difficult opponent. Ye
makes too many unforced errors, she added.

Tang Jiuhong, South Korea's Ra Kyu Min and Kim Ji Hyun,
Thailand's Somharuthai Jaroensiri and Japan's Hisako Mizui could
also block Susi's path. But not many experts are counting on it.

Indonesia won the women's team event in the Uber Cup by
beating defending champions China in May. Susi said home
advantage obviously helped, but she still puts Indonesia slightly
ahead of its rivals in Hiroshima.

Indonesia's men will also start as favorites in the Hiroshima
contest. They have world number one Joko Suprianto, 1994 All
England champion Haryanto Arbie, and 1992 Olympic silver medalist
Ardy Wiranata in the singles.

In the doubles, Indonesia is deploying the world's number one
and two pairs, Bambang Suprianto/Gunawan and Ricky Subagja/Rexy
Mainaki.

Competition for places is so hot that Susi's fiancee, Alan
Budikusuma, a former number one, could not get a place in the
Asian Games team to get a chance to make it a "golden"
anniversary for the couple.