Lack of spirit blamed for badminton woes

The Jakarta Post ,  Jakarta   |  Wed, 03/12/2008 11:56 AM  |  Sports

Indonesian shuttlers are in great need of stronger determination and fighting spirit said an Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) official Tuesday after Indonesia left last week's All England tournament empty-handed.

"We have many good shuttlers but we find it difficult to find any with strong determination, like shuttlers in the old days," head of the competition and match division of PBSI, Mimi Irawan said.

Indonesia's chances of victory were crushed when Olympic gold medalist Taufik Hidayat and world champion runner-up Sony Dwi Kuncoro lost their quaterefinal matches. The lone Indonesian finalists, Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir, succumbed to Chinese mixed doubles duo Zheng Bo and Gao Ling.

"I hope our players can learn from the qualities shown by world No. 1 Lin Dan of China, who kept battling despite his injury," she said.

Lin aggravated his knee during a training session before the competition but managed to make the finals, although he was eventually defeated by his compatriot, Chen Jin.

Former All England champion and coach Sigit Budiarto said the badminton association should thoroughly evaluate Indonesia's All England loss.

"Evaluation is necessary because I think All England can be used as a yardstick to measure our readiness ahead of the Thomas and Uber Cups as well as the Olympics Games," said Sigit.

In May, Indonesia will host the most prestigious men's team event, the Thomas Cup, and the women's Uber Cup.

"Many things, like bad tactics and nervousness, can contribute to such results. But I really hope that our shuttlers can anticipate and overcome these things," he said.

Sigit urged the badminton association and the government to try harder to make the sport more popular in the country and take a real step in promoting badminton as a promising career. (ind)

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