Tennis indoor stadium not appropriate for ABC c'ships: Leo

JAKARTA (JP): The recent success of the US$150,000 Sanyo Indonesia Open at the Senayan Tennis Indoor Stadium has apparently concerned Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) secretary-general Leo Chandra Wiranata.

He considers the venue inappropriate to host the JVC Asian Badminton Championships in November.

"You saw how crowded the venue was during the final, especially during the men's singles when Taufik Hidayat faced Ong Ewe Hock of Malaysia. Can you imagine what would have happened if Taufik lost?" he said on Wednesday.

"The spectators were too close to the courts and it could have endangered the safety of the players."

About 4,500 people thronged the stadium on Sunday, passing the maximum capacity of 4,000.

Ong complained on Saturday that some spectators threw mineral water bottles at him when he defeated local opponent Johan Hadikusuma in the semifinals.

Leo said the most appropriate venue was either the Senayan Indoor Stadium or the Jakarta Convention Center.

"We can set up the stadium as we did for the Thomas Cup final championships in 1990 and 1994 but it will cost a lot, especially nowadays with sponsors being hard to get."

"The most ideal place is the convention center which has an underground tunnel to the nearby Hilton Hotel. But definitely, it will cost a fortune as the rent fee is much higher than the stadium."

The venue was decided in the Asian Badminton Confederation executive council meeting. Leo said if the event was staged outside Jakarta, only three cities -- Surabaya, Semarang and Surakarta -- had the facilities to do so.

Leo said PBSI and IMG, who hold the event rights, must consider Indonesia's reputation as host.

"We should take care in our image, especially if Chinese players are competing in the event."

Indonesia will not only stage the championships but also host the annual general meeting and the referees certification.

Leo also said there was a possibility that men's singles Hendrawan, men's doubles Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan and women's doubles Elysa Nathanael and Deyana Lomban would withdraw from the five-star Malaysia Open next month.

"If we want to send athletes, they must be ranked 12 or 13 in the world in order to enable them to get into the best eight to secure a drawing for the Olympic Games."

PBSI plans to send 31 athletes to the championships. (yan)