Indonesian shuttlers seek redemption at Swiss Open

Niken Prathivi , The Jakarta Post , Jakarta Tue, 03/10/2009 2:45 PM Sports
Leaving Birmingham empty-handed following their total failure to reach any of the finals at the recently concluded All England Super Series, Indonesia's shuttlers now turn to the Wilson Swiss Super Series for redemption.
Indonesia's best hopes Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir will again bear the burden of winning a title at the tournament, which starts on Tuesday.
Despite their world No. 1 ranking, Nova and Liliyana fell in quarterfinals to the Indonesian-Russian pairing of Flandy Limepele and Anastasia Russkikh.
"Logically, Nova and Liliyana have a bigger winning chance *than the rest of the Indonesian team* because they are world No. 1. I hope the other players can bounce back," Lius Pongoh, an official from the Badminton Association of Indonesian (PBSI), told The Jakarta Post.
"I want the players to be fired up at the Swiss event."
Head coach Christian Hadinata said that despite taking any silverware from the All England, the players would not lose hope of winning a title at the US$200,000 Swiss event.
"We can assess their chances from the draw. They should all put in a better performance than they did at the All England. I really expect we can bring home a title from the Swiss series," said Christian, a former doubles star in the 1970s.
In the main draw, which begins Wednesday, Nova and Liliyana will meet non-seeded David Lindley and Suzanne Rayappan of the UK in the first round. Should the Indonesian pair win that match, they would then meet either Han Sang-hoon and Kim Min-jung or Ko Sung-hyun and Ha Jung-eun of South Korea in the second round.
If Nova and Liliyana advance to the quarterfinals, the top seeds would likely face fifth seeds Thomas Laybourn and Kamilla Rytter Juhl of Denmark. Seventh seeds Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thoungthongkam of Thailand and second seeds Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung might be the opponents to tackle in the next stages, if the Indonesians make it that far.
In the men's singles, Indonesia will put its hopes in Taufik Hidayat and Simon Santoso, with world No. 5 Sony Dwi Kuncoro cutting short his European trip due to injury.
Taufik, traveling on his own after his decision to drop out of the national camp, reached the semifinals at the All England, where he crashed out at the hands of Malaysian nemesis and world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei.