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All England win boosts optimism for Thomas Cup
A string of victories by Indonesian shuttlers in recent tournaments should serve as a confidence ahead of the Thomas Cup, the coveted world menâs team championship trophy
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string of victories by Indonesian shuttlers in recent tournaments should serve as a confidence ahead of the Thomas Cup, the coveted world men's team championship trophy.
'If we do not bring home the Thomas Cup this year, it will be [more] difficult [in the future] because most of our badminton players are at the peak of their performances,' Indonesia's badminton legend Tan Joe Hok told journalists on the sidelines of the bonus award ceremony for the country's All England champions at the Galeri Indonesia Kaya in Central Jakarta on Tuesday.
All England mixed doubles pair Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir and men's doubles shuttler Mohammad Ahsan were awarded Rp 200 million (US$17,654) each by the Djarum Foundation, which manages their club PB Djarum. Tontowi/Liliyana also received Rp 100 million each from their main sponsor blibli.com.
Meanwhile the other half of the men's doubles pair, Hendra Setiawan, the only player from the PB Jaya Raya Jakarta club, received Rp 200 million from the Jaya Raya Foundation.
Their coaches ' Richard Mainaky and Herry Iman Pierngadi ' received cash bonuses of Rp 10 million each.
The award ceremony was attended by a number of badminton legends namely Imelda Wigoena ' who won the 1979 All England title and was included in a team that won the first Uber Cup for Indonesia in 1975 ' and Sigit Budiarto, who won the All England men's doubles medal in 2003 with his then partner Candra Wijaya.
Hendra/Ahsan, who also won the World Badminton Championships last year, are expected to spearhead the Indonesian team at the prestigious biennial team event slated to take place from May 15 to May 25 in New Delhi, India.
'Now we have four pairs of men's doubles [Markis Kido/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon, Angga Pratama/Rian Agung Saputro, Wahyu Nayaka Arya Pankaryanira/Ade Yusuf] so we can take at least two points from the event plus one point from the men's singles,' said Tan, Indonesia's first All England champion.
He was optimistic that Tommy Sugiarto, Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka or Sony Dwi Kuncoro could take at least one point from the men's singles event.
With two prestigious titles in hand, Hendra was also upbeat that Indonesia would be able to take home the trophy, the symbol of badminton supremacy.
'I'm sure we can bring home the Thomas Cup. The most important thing is that all the team members are solid and give their best in each match,' he said.
'We can see that they are very confident about the Thomas Cup. We have a chance in this year's tournament. It's now a matter of how well we all prepare for the event,' Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) head of development and achievement Rexy Mainaky said in a statement.
The PBSI is aiming to take home titles from the All England, BWF World Championships, Asian Games and BWF Super Series Finals as well as the Thomas Cup this year.
As of Wednesday, the PBSI had yet to announce the members of the Indonesian team for the Thomas and Uber cups.
Since the initial event in 1949, Indonesia has been the most successful nation in the tournament having won the Thomas Cup 13 times followed by China, the current title holder, with nine titles.
