Tony Gunawan axed from Indonesian Thomas Cup team

Tony Gunawan axed from Indonesian Thomas Cup team

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) has not included
Sydney 2000 Olympic gold medalist Tony Gunawan from the list it
announced on Thursday for the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup finals due
to take place from May 9 until May 19 in Guangzhou, China.

Tony, who is now residing in the U.S. having resigned from the
Indonesian Badminton Center (PBI), had earlier conveyed his
intention of reentering the center and becoming part of the
Thomas Cup squad.

"We really appreciate Tony's wish to rejoin the center and
represent Indonesia but he will not be able to come here until
early May," PBSI chairman Chairul Tanjung told reporters after a
PBSI board meeting.

"The registration deadline is on Thursday so we can't list
him. But I hope he can represent Indonesia in another event."

Tony, who was paired with Candra Wijaya when they snatched the
gold medal, is now pursuing his academic career together with his
fiancee Etty Tantri.

PBSI has named ten players for each Thomas Cup and Uber Cup
squad as required by the regulations.

PBSI decided to register five singles shuttlers and two-and-a-
half pairs, or five shuttlers, in the doubles for "strategic
reasons". The singles players are Marlev Mainaky, Taufik Hidayat,
Hendrawan, Budi Santoso and Rony Agustinus.

"We need to have more flexibility in the singles matches. Five
players will enable us to easily rotate our players," said Thomas
and Uber Cups project officer Christian Hadinata.

"The coaches have investigated all possibilities against any
opponents to ensure our way to the final."

"But having only two-and-a-half pairs of doubles players will
not reduce our doubles strength," he added.

The five doubles players are Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto;
Halim Heryanto and Tri Kusheryanto; and Bambang Suprianto.

When asked why junior Sonny Dwi Kuncoro was not included in
the Thomas Cup team, Christian, who is also the PBSI's training
director, only said that the team event needed more experienced
shuttlers.

"We have taken into consideration all aspects as regards Rony,
Budi and Sonny's achievements. It doesn't have anything to do
with the fact that he's a junior player," he said.

If the controversy in the Thomas Cup squad was the exclusion
of Sonny, the Uber Cup squad had its own controversy, this time
revolving around another junior player, Dian Novita Sari.

Dian did not make it onto the list after being beaten by her
seniors Lidya Djaelawidjaja, Ellen Angelina, Yuli Marfuah and Atu
Rosalina.

Many observers consider her to deserve a place in the final
squad as she saved the Indonesian team during the Uber Cup
qualifying round in February in Melbourne, Australia.

Uber Cup team manager Jacob Rusdianto guaranteed that the
selection process had been undertaken in an objective and
transparent manner.

"Both Atu and Dian have their own strengths and weaknesses. So
we decided to have a match between them. Whoever the winner was
got into the team," he said.

"It turned out from Wednesday's match that Atu won as the
eventual winner in a tight game," he added.

Meanwhile as expected, the PBSI registered Deyana Lomban and
Vita Marissa, Eny Erlangga and Jo Novita; and Minarti Timur and
Emma Ermawati in the doubles.

"The PBSI, however, will still send Dian to Guangzhou as a
practice partner in recognition of her efforts and achievements.
We will also send Bambang's partner, Nova Widhianto, as another
practice partner," said Chairul.