I

ndonesia's Uber Cup team may face a rockier path than their male compatriot Thomas Cup squad at the upcoming Asian qualification round on Feb. 21-28 in Thailand, says an observer.

"From the numerous defeats in the past year, it's clear it will be much more difficult for the women shuttlers to qualify for the Uber Cup than the men's team for Thomas Cup," Retno Kustijah, a former top national shuttler in the 60s and 70s, said Tuesday in a phone interview.

"It will be a miracle if the women's team can qualify," she added.

The last time Indonesia won the Uber Cup was in 1996 in Hong Kong, while Indonesia's latest Thomas Cup triumph was in 2002 in Guangzhou, China. The Thomas and Uber Cup are jointly held every two years.

This year's Uber Cup squad consists of Adriyanti Firdasari, Maria Febe Kusumastuti, Maria Kristin Yulianti and Aprilia Yuswandari in the women's singles, as well as doubles specialists Greysia Polii, Nitya Krishinda Maheswari, Shendy Puspa Irawati, Meiliana Jauhari, Liliyana Natsir and Anneke Feinya Agustine.

Given the players' track record, Retno said, the Indonesia Uber Cup squad would have a tough time in Thailand next month.

About half of the squad - Febe, Aprilia, Shendy, Meiliana and Nitya - are new to the competition, while Maria Kristin, the bronze medalist at the 2008Beijing Olympics, failed to win a single title in 2009. Maria was also in the two previous Uber Cup teams.

At the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Laos in December, Indonesia's badminton squad brought home a total of four gold, two silver and two bronze medals. The gold came from the men's team, men's singles, men's doubles, and mixed doubles.

The Indonesian women's team had to be content with a silver and a bronze in the doubles.

At last week's Malaysian Open, the fourth seed pairing of Shendy and Meiliana lost to unseeded South Korean pair Jung Kyung Eun-Yoo Hyun Young early in the second round.

Retno, however, expects a brighter prospect for the Thomas Cup squad, although she expressed concerns over the challenge posed by the South Korean team.

Christian Hadinata, the head of national coach at the Indonesian Badminton Association, admitted Tuesday that next month's qualifying round would be tough for both Indonesian teams.

"It will definitely be tougher than the SEA Games as all of Asia's best shuttlers will play in the Uber and Thomas Cup Asian qualifiers," Christian said.

Christian said that to qualify for the finals of the Thomas and Uber Cup on May 9-16 in Malaysia, the Indonesian squads needed to rely heavily on strategy.

"For example, we can optimize the composition of the shuttlers in the order of play for every game," Christian said, citing previous experience at the Laos SEA Games, where a last-minute change in a double pairing turned out to be the winning factor for the team.