Wijarnako, the chairman of achievement development of the East Java provincial chapter of the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI), said here on Saturday India would field almost all its players in the men`s single event offering US$15,000 in prize money.
Of the nine Indian men`s single players two have records namely Anand Pawar and Anup Sidhar. The two are ranked fourth and eighth, he said.
"India indeed still rely on the two players at several big tournaments and their quality has to be taken into account," he said.
Anup Sidhar was the captain of the Indian team at the Thomas Cup in 2008. He had even been able to beat Indonesia`s top player Taufik Hidayat in the 2007 world championship.
"The Indonesia Challenge tournament is one of the opportunities for many players to collect points to be able to participate in the 2012 Olympic Games. I think Anup and other Indian players also target it because competing in super series is quite hard," he said.
Wijanarko also said that South Korean, Malaysian and several European players that would participate in the tournament also have a class.
Indonesia will send a full team to the tournament including players from the Pratama national training center, top clubs and former national training center such as Tommy Sugiarto, Andre Kurniawan and defending champion Alamsyah Yunus.
According to data from the committee there will be 152 matches in the men`s single event involving players from 25 countries including Indonesia.
The East Java PSSI chapter as the host would rely only on Fauzi Adnan to compete in the sector although the chance to win it is slim.
"Although he is not included in the seeded players it does not mean that Fauzi will be easily beaten. His motivation to win is very strong" he said.
Wijanarko said the event would also be used for monitoring the strength of rivals in the National Games in 2012 as almost all the best players from rival regions such as Central Java, Jakarta and West Java take part in the tournament. (*)
Editor: Kunto Wibisono
Copyright © ANTARA 2011
