The Badminton Association of Indonesian (PBSI) has promoted 11 junior shuttlers to join the main team at the national badminton training camp in Cipayung, East Jakarta, while welcoming 12 others into the national junior squad.
“The camp now has 80 national shuttlers in both the main and junior teams. Previously, we had 77 shuttlers, 39 junior and 38 senior shuttlers,” PBSI secretary-general yacob Rusdianto said Wednesday.
Most of the newcomers to the main team will be playing in the men’s doubles and the mixed doubles — disciplines regarded as the country’s main strength in international competitions.
The men’s doubles field includes Yohanes Rendy Sugiarto, Angga Pratama, Rian Agung, Andika Anhar and Hendra Setyo Nugroho, while the mixed doubles players are Rizki Delinugraha, Irfan Fadillah and Wenny Anggraeni.
Men’s singles Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka and women’s singles Maria Febe Kusumastuti have earlier automatically joint the national camp, without undergoing a national selection process, due to their prominent performances.
Women’s doubles pair Della Destiara Haris and Suci Rizki Andini, who are competing at the ongoing Asia Youth Under-19 Championship in Malaysia, as well as men’s singles Adi Pratama are also part of the newly promoted contingent.
Yohanes and Angga won the men’s doubles at the Asia Youth Under-19 Championship in 2007.
Meanwhile, Djarum Club’s men’s doubles Muh. Ulinnuha and Berry Angriawan, who last year clinched runner-up spot at the World Junior Championship in Malaysia, were selected to join the national junior squad along with 10 others.
Central Java’s prominent Djarum Club remains the main breeding ground for talent, with five new entrants to the national team, including Rachmat Ardianto, Andrei Adistia and Jenna Gozali.
Shuttlers Agripina Prima Rhamanto and Ery Oktaviani Andriyana were shortlisted from Jakarta’s Jayaraya Club while East Java’s Wima Surabaya Club contributed two shuttlers, Febrian Irvannaldy and Riky Widianto.
East Java’s Suryanaga Club, Jakarta’s Tangkas Alfamart and West Java’s Mutiara Bandung each had a shuttler qualify for the national junior team: Variela Aprilsari Putri Lejarsari, Fernaldi Marcus Gideon and Ricky Karanda Suwardi respectively.
Ricky was also in the country’s youth squad at the Asia Youth Under-19 in Malaysia, where Indonesia reached the mixed-team event semifinals.
Meanwhile, seven shuttlers were demoted from the main team, excluding four shuttlers who resigned. The four are top men’s doubles Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan, who recently made their professional debut at the All England Super Series, men’s doubles shuttler Lingga Lie, who decided to rejoin Djarum Club, and mixed doubles shuttler Lita Nurlita.
“The camp imposes too much pressure yet gives very little exposure to competition. I believe I can better perform in my club,” Lingga Lie, who, for the past two years, was part of the national training camp’s main team, told The Jakarta Post on Wednesday.
Lingga and his men’s doubles pair Fernando Kurniawan were finalists at the 2008 New Zealand Open Gold Grand Prix and semifinalists at the Macau Open in the same year.
At Wednesday’s finale of the Asia Youth Under-19 Championship in Kuala Lumpur, China snatched the mixed-team champion title from defending champions Malaysia.
China’s women dominated the singles, doubles and mixed doubles matches, defeating Malaysia 3-2.