T

he Indonesian men’s and women’s badminton squads on Thursday head to Macau for their Asia-zone qualifiers for the Thomas and Uber Cup championships.

The zone’s qualification stage will be held between Feb. 13 and 19.

“I expect our Thomas and Uber Cup teams will be able to reach the final round and exceed their achievements two years ago in Kuala Lumpur,” Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) Djoko Santoso said as quoted by Antara news agency on Wednesday.

Two years ago in Kuala Lumpur, the Indonesian men’s team finished as runner-up after losing to defending champion China in the final. The women’s team was knocked out in the semifinals by the Chinese who went on to become Uber Cup runners-up, losing to South Korea.

National women’s singles coach Wong Tat Meng said that his team were fit and fully recovered from their various injuries.

“[With] God’s blessing, they are all free from injury and sickness,” said Wong, who was previously concerned about singles aces Adriyanti Firdasari and Linda Wenifanetri after they were injured at the 26th SEA Games last November.

The red-and-white’s Uber Cup singles squad consists of Linda, Firdasari, Maria Febe Kusumastuti and Bellaetrix Manuputty, while doubles specialists Greysia Polii, Meiliana Jauhari, Anneke Feinya Agustin, Nitya Krishinda, Lilyana Natsir and Shendy Puspa Irawati also competing.

Among the 13 countries in the Asia-zone qualifiers, Indonesia is placed in Group Y with Thailand, Sri Lanka and Kazakhstan. The Indonesians will face their first hurdle against the little-known Sri Lankan team next Monday, going on to play Kazakhstan the next day and then their toughest rival, Thailand, on the last day of qualification.

Among the 14 countries competing in the Thomas Cup qualifier, Indonesia is in Group B with India, Singapore and Macau. The host country will be Indonesia’s first opponents on Monday. Singles shuttler Simon Santoso will lead the team, which comprises of Taufik Hidayat, Tommy Sugiarto and Dionysius Rumbaka, along with doubles specialists Mohammad Ahsan, Bona Septano, Alvent Yulianto, Hendra Gunawan, Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan.

The last time the Indonesian men brought home the Thomas Cup was in 2002 from Guangzhou, while the women have not won the Uber Cup since 1996 in Hong Kong. The Indonesian men been the most successful in Thomas Cup history, winning it 13 times, followed by China’s eight wins and Malaysia’s six. The Indonesian women have won the Uber Cup three times, with China securing the trophy 11 times and Japan winning five times.