Veteran shuttlers picked to make Games clean sweep

Veteran shuttlers picked to make Games clean sweep

JAKARTA (JP): In an effort to meet the National Sports Council
target of a clean sweep in badminton, the Badminton Association
of Indonesia has decided to rely on veteran players instead of
its second stringers.

The men's singles coach Indra Gunawan told reporters yesterday
that the association preferred to field 30-year-old Joko
Suprianto, world ranked 20, and world number two Hariyanto Arbi
in the men's singles individual event instead of world ranked 10
Indra Wijaya.

"It's not that I don't believe Indra could not perform better
but we prefer a safer way to win the gold. Joko performs steadier
than Indra if under pressure," Gunawan said.

"We are also focusing Indra to play in the team event as the
second singles after Hari (Hariyanto)," he said.

In the group A men's singles, Hari will probably meet his
toughest rival Yong Hock Kin of Malaysia while Joko is expected
to meet another Malaysian, Ong Ewe Hock, in the semifinals.

Gunawan predicted that Hari would be able to overcome Yong
better than Indra, who lost to the Malaysian in the Indonesian
Open in July.

Joko should not face any trouble taming Ong, who beat Hari in
the World Cup badminton tournament in August.

"If this was not to meet the council's target, I might have
gambled and played Indra in the individual event because he
proved himself in the Asia Cup early this year," Gunawan said.

Another consideration for the association is that Hari and
Joko have been in peak form recently while Indra's condition has
not been very good.

"It's not the deciding factor but Indra has often lost to his
rivals during practice recently," Gunawan said.

The badminton organizers have scheduled the team event from
Oct. 12 to Oct. 14 with Indonesia and Malaysia as the top seeds
in the men's team event and Indonesia and Thailand the seeded
nations in the women's team event.

The individual events will start on Oct. 16 and end on Oct. 18
with Hari, Joko, Ong and Yong as the top seeds.

In the women's singles, Susi and Mia will only face tough
competition from Pornsawan Plungwech of Thailand and Ishawari
Boopathy of Malaysia.

Walkout

The volleyball technical meeting yesterday was marked by a
walk-out from a representative of the Singapore officials, who
declined to continue attending the meeting after all the
delegations agreed to use Molten balls as the official ball
instead of Mikasa.

"The Indonesian Volleyball Association has not used Mikasa in
the last two years," said Rita Subowo, the Indonesian beach
volleyball technical delegate.

The Indonesian volleyball association has a contract with
Molten to use its products in all events but the Games consortium
signed another contract with Mikasa without consulting the
association.

Thailand's officials also complained about the organizers'
failure to give them two hours training every day as was
scheduled.

Despite the complaint, Thailand still aims to fight hard
against Indonesia in the indoor volleyball tournament.

"We are aiming for two gold medals from the men's and women's
indoor volleyball," Pravech Rattanapian, Thailand's team manager,
told The Jakarta Post.

However, Pravech said his team would not expect to get the
golds in the beach volleyball, which is being contested for the
first time in the SEA Games history.

Host Indonesia, which only won two bronzes in the last Games
in Chiang Mai, Thailand, plans to make a clean sweep in both
indoor and beach volleyball.

Volleyball training director Soetardiono said that the stiff
target was designed to motivate the players to give their best
and was not intended to burden them.

"We expect them to perform all-out in the Games," he told the
Post.

He said that in indoor volleyball, the Indonesian team had to
keep an eye on Thailand, while in beach volleyball they will face
a serious challenge from Thailand and the Philippines.

The indoor volleyball event starts on Oct. 12 and ends on Oct.
18, while the beach volleyball event begins on Oct. 16 to Oct.
18.

Indonesia will field its best beach players for the Games.
Timmy and partner Engel Bertha Kaize, who qualified for the 1996
Olympic Games, and Yayah Rodiah/Agustin will team up in the
women's side while Nur Mufid/Markoji, who also played in the
Olympics, and Agus Salim/Irikhun Sofanna will team up in the
men's competition. (ste/yan)