•    HOME   
•    NEWS   
•    BUSINESS   
•    INTERNATIONAL   
•    TECH   
•    SPORTS   
•    LIFE & TIMES   
•    OPINION   
•    MY JAKARTA   
•    BLOGS   

No one can accuse the Indonesian Badminton Association of seeing the glass half empty.

After most of the national team shuttlers were sent home early from the All England, the association, or PBSI, chose to take heart from what it said were some promising performances by young players.

The PBSI, sent 17 athletes to one of the most prestigious badminton tournaments in the world. Only four made it into the quarterfinals at the National Indoor Arena in Birmingham on Friday. All of those matches started after press time.

Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari were due to meet Pan Pan and Tian Qing in the women’s doubles last eight, while mixed doubles No. 2 seeds Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir were scheduled to face host favorites Nathan Robertson and Jenny Wallwork.

The strong showing by the women’s doubles team was somewhat surprising, with women’s badminton having long been a source of frustration for Indonesia.

Ever since Susi Susanti — a 1992 Olympic gold medalist, five-time world champion and four-time All England winner — retired in 1997, no Indonesian women’s shuttler has managed to fill her shoes.

“The women’s doubles excellent performance in the All England is encouraging,” national team head coach Christian Hadinata said on Friday.

“They ousted higher-ranked opponents on their way, which shows improvements have been made in the development of women shuttlers.”

Two women’s singles players lost earlier in the tournament, but Christian said Maria Febe Kusumastuti showed signs of a bright future. In her All England debut, Maria, 20, made it to the second round before losing to third seed Jiang Yanjiao.

New national team player Dionisius Hayom Rumbaka, 22, fell in the men’s singles first round, but he put up a good fight against third seed Chen Jin of China, losing 21-16, 19-21, 22-20.

But the coach was clearly not happy with the performances of men’s singles players Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Simon Santoso. Sony lost to Malaysian top seed Lee Chong Wei in the second round, while Simon was sent packing by Denmark’s Peter Gade.

“If Sony wants to stay at the top of the game, he should be exceptional and not be giving a mediocre performance,” he said. “And I think Simon, with his talent, should’ve beat Peter.”

The last time Indonesia won a title of any kind at the All England was in 2003, when Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto took home the men’s doubles crown.

Christian hoped Taufik Hidayat and men’s doubles players Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan would end the drought.

The three players, who have all left the national camp, are in the quarterfinals.

“Markis and Hendra, I think, won’t have trouble beating Malaysian veterans Choong Tan Fuk and Lee Wan Wah to earn a semifinal berth,” he said.

Of all the major titles available in badminton, including the Olympics and World Championships, only the All England has eluded Taufik and the men’s doubles.

“I’m the only [Indonesian] men’s singles in the tournament now. I’ll work very hard to win the title,” Taufik, who meets Gade in the quarterfinals, told state-run news agency Antara on Friday.