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Triple whammy hits RI squad ahead of World Championships

Tommy Sugiarto will be Indonesia’s only hope for the men’s singles title at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships, which begin next week in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the withdrawal of his teammate, Simon Santoso, due to illness

Irawaty Wardany (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Thu, August 21, 2014

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Triple whammy hits RI squad ahead of World Championships

T

ommy Sugiarto will be Indonesia'€™s only hope for the men'€™s singles title at the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Championships, which begin next week in Copenhagen, Denmark, following the withdrawal of his teammate, Simon Santoso, due to illness.

Simon, who was given the chance to compete in the Aug. 25-31 championships after Du Pengyu from China withdrew from the tournament, was forced to withdraw after being rushed to hospital in Jakarta late on Monday suffering from dengue fever.

The news is a devastating setback for Indonesian badminton, given the earlier withdrawal of defending mixed doubles champions Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir and men'€™s doubles pair, Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan.

'€œHendra/Ahsan and Simon have confirmed their withdrawals from the World Championships; Ahsan is suffering from a back injury, while Simon has contracted dengue fever,'€ the team'€™s manager, Lius Pongoh, said.

The news about Tontowi/Liliyana was announced earlier this month as a result of Tontowi'€™s ankle injury, which he sustained at the Australia Open in June, while Ahsan suffered from a recurrence of a lower back injury.

'€œIt'€™s the second time Ahsan has had lower back pain and it has gotten worse in the past few days during training. He can'€™t even sit down properly now so, of course, he can'€™t move well or jump-smash; so, the doctor has said he should not go,'€ Bambang Rudyanto, international relations manager for the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) said as quoted by bwfbadminton.org.

As the World Championships draw has already been determined, there can be no replacements for either Ahsan/Hendra or Simon.

'€œIt'€™s a disaster for us '€” what can I say. We are leaving on Thursday morning and we have no choice [but to go without them]; they cannot play,'€ Bambang said.

Simon expressed his disappointment over his forced absence.

'€œI'€™m really sad that I had to cancel my participation [at the World Championships] at the last minute. I'€™m focusing on recovering from dengue fever. Hopefully, I can recover in time to prepare for the Asian Games [later this year],'€ Simon said in a statement.

The absence of its favorites leaves the Indonesian team with less hope of emulating its success at last year'€™s championships, when it won two titles '€” the men'€™s doubles and mixed doubles.

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