PBSI Technical Chief Susi Susanti Confident About Title Win at Indonesia Open
Jakarta. The Badminton Association of Indonesia's, or PBSI, technical and development chief Susi Susanti has urged her players to bring home at least one title in the 2017 Indonesia Open Superseries Premier, which begins on Monday (12/06) at the Jakarta Convention Center.
The tournament, Indonesia's most competitive badminton event, promises a total of $1 million in prizes and will see top-tier players from across the world compete, including Carolina Marin of Spain, Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, Lin Dan of China among others.
Indonesia also boasts some of the sport's best, including top prospect Anthony Ginting, All England men's doubles winners Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Olympic gold mixed doubles medalists Liliyana Natsir and Tontowi Ahmad.
Susi expects at least one of her top-tier players to bring home a winning medal.
"We expect one title from either the men's doubles or mixed doubles, but I don't want to point out who it is we expect to win. We don't want to add any pressure," she told reporters in Jakarta on Sunday.
"We all know Marcus and Kevin won the All England and people may expect them to win, but this Indonesia Open is the best tournament in the world, the competition will be tight," she added.
Susi said her junior players have undergone intense practice sessions in recent weeks to prepare for the tournament.
"Preparations have been good, hopefully we will see some results from that," Susi said.
Marcus and Kevin put on Indonesia's worst performance in the country's history at the recent Sudirman Cup in Gold Coast, Australia.
"We also expect young shuttlers to learn from this kind of tournament and show dedication to their country."
Susi, a 1992 Olympic gold medalist in women's singles, was appointed as technical chief in December last year by PBSI, replacing another former Olympic gold medalist, Rexy Mainaky.
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