Wuhan: The Badminton Association of Indonesia or PBSI has not given the Indonesian team any specific targets as they compete at the 2017 Badminton Asia Championships that starts in Wuhan, China, from April 25th to April 30th.
This decision was confirmed by Head of Development and High Performance of PBSI – Susi Susanti, after two top Indonesian doubles including men’s doubles pair Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and mixed doubles pair Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir have decided to withdraw from the tournament.
“We are going into the tournament without any expectations, it will be a chance for the players and coaches to prove themselves to PBSI,” said Susanti.
“However, we will evaluate the performance of our players as the benchmark for the selection of the Sudirman Cup team,” added Susanti.
In addition to two top doubles pairs, the Indonesian team will also be playing in Wuhan without Jonatan Christie (men’s singles), and Anggia Shitta Awanda / Ni Ketut Mahadewi Istarani (women’s doubles).
According to Indonesian media, Marcus has suffered a back injury, Liliyana has not yet fully recovered from the injured right knee, while Anggia pulled her right hamstring.
There are no Indonesian players competing in the qualifying round. All Indonesian players start their first match in the main draw on Wednesday.
