Third place good enough for RI to reach Uber Cup finals: Coach

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesia will only need to finish third in the Uber Cup (women's championship) Asia Oceania zone semifinal round to qualify for the finals in May, but Indonesian head coach Christian Hadinata said on Tuesday that the team would not take the matches lightly.

Christian, a former doubles specialist, said Indonesia would field its best lineup for the matches to be played in Melbourne, Australia next February.

"We will have to use the best of our women shuttlers, be it senior or junior ones. We will have them all well prepared," he said.

"I will take into consideration advice from other coaches before naming the team. It is the coaches who know the shuttlers best ... and I have to trust them."

Christian mentioned long-time rivals Japan and South Korea as the major obstacles for Indonesia while Chinese Taipei, Hong Kong, Malaysia and Thailand could also pose a threat considering Indonesia's waning strength recently.

The other semifinal round will be held in Eindhoven, the Netherlands, with participants mainly coming from European countries.

Havana played host to a qualifying stage for the Latin American region last week. The United States qualified for both the Thomas Cup (men's championships) and the Uber Cup semifinals in Eindhoven.

The Indonesian men's team automatically qualified for the Thomas Cup because they are the reigning champions.

"Usually, there are three berths from the two semifinal groups plus two automatic bids for the host and reigning champs. But this time China is both host and champions so there is one more berth on offer in the Uber Cup," Christian said.

He said he had heard that the additional berth will likely be on offer in Melbourne, meaning that the top four teams from the Australian round will qualify for the finals compared to three from the Eindhoven event.

Christian said the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) had yet to be officially notified about the additional bid.

"The European countries may complain so I think it will be better for us to secure at least third place in Melbourne," he said.

"If we finish fourth, we may have to take on Europe's fourth finisher in a playoff to qualify for the finals."

Spearheaded by Olympic champion Susi Susanti and young sensation Mia Audina, Indonesia beat South Korea in Jakarta in 1994 to regain the Uber Cup after a 19-year drought. They went on to defend the trophy two years later in Hong Kong after defeating China, but China seized it back in 1998, also in Hong Kong.

In the last Uber Cup finals in Kuala Lumpur last year, Indonesia lost to Denmark in the semifinals.

Christian admitted it would be a tough time for Indonesia to survive the Melbourne test with the current group of shuttlers available at the training center in Cipayung, East Jakarta.