Jakarta: Head of Development and Performance for Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) – Rexy Mainaky urged Indonesia’s badminton players to make the most of the pressure and expectation that comes with hosting the game’s biggest event – the 2015 World Championships this August in Jakarta.
After leaving the 2014 World Championships empty handed, Indonesia hopes to achieve better results in Jakarta this year.
However, looking back at their disappointing performances at the 2015 Indonesia Super Series Premier in June, where the best result came from Nitya Krishinda Maheswari/Greysia Polii after they were defeated by Tang Jinhua/Tian Qing of China in the women’s doubles final. Perhaps playing the world championships on home turf could be a double-edged sword. Even though shuttlers receive the support of a raucous crowd but players could also get choke under the weight of expectation from home crowd.
“All players are fully aware that we are the host nation at this year’s World Championships,” said Rexy.
“So, they can’t blame on the increased pressure of being the host if they fail at the world meet. Furthermore, players have learned from their own failures at the Indonesia Super Series Premier in June,” added Rexy.
“The preparation is going well for our players, Hendra Setiawan and his teammates have been training hard for the tournament.”
For this year’s World Championships, Indonesia still relying on familiar names such as Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan, Greysia Polii/Nitya Krishinda Maheswari, and Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir for the championship run.
“I hope that Indonesia can win 1 or 2 titles at the World Championships this year.”
“In addition, I also hope that other players such as Praveen Jordan/Debby Susanto and Riky Widianto/Richi Puspita Dili could get through to the semi-finals,” said Rexy.
The last time Indonesia won the world championships was in 2013, where Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan, and Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir lifted the men’s doubles and mixed doubles titles respectively. However, both pairs had to withdraw from last year’s world meet due to injury sustained by Mohammad Ahsan and Tontowi Ahmad in mid-2014.
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