D

espite a Super Series title drought last year, men’s badminton duo Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan are among the few Indonesian shuttlers competing at the five-day Victor Badminton World Federation (BWF) Super Series Finals that starts Wednesday in Taiwan.

“We don’t have any specific targets for this tournament,” former national coach Sigit Pamungkas said recently. Sigit at the start of this month returned to the Jaya Raya Badminton Club to focus on preparing the world number three men’s doubles for another Olympic gold at London next year.

Kido and Hendra’s participation in this Super Series Finals will serve as a drill to peak at this year’s three major events: the All England Super Series in March, the BWF World Championship in August and the Southeast Asian Games in November.

Only the top eight players and doubles pairs based on the 2010 Super Series standings may participate at the BWF Super Series Finals.

Other Indonesians who qualified for the event are world number two men’s singles Taufik Hidayat, world number three mixed doubles pairing Hendra Aprida Gunawan and Vita Marissa, and women’s doubles Meiliana Jauhari and Greysia Polii, who are currently ranked ninth in the world.

Hendra and Vita as well as Meiliana and Greysia were semifinalists at the Singapore Open, their best showing all year long in Super Series events in 2010. Taufik claimed one of only two Super Series titles won by Indonesians at an event in France in November.

While Indonesia’s international badminton prowess sinks to new lows, emerging powerhouse Thailand sent two players in the singles and three pairs in the doubles to the Finals.

Chinese shuttler Lin Dan failed to qualify for the Finals due to limited appearances on the Super Series circuit last year. World number four women’s singles Saina Nehwal withdrew from the Finals at the last minute due to an ankle injury.

— JP/Agnes Winarti