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Indonesian Shuttlers Gear Up for Taiwan Event
The Taiwan Open sounds decidedly plain when compared to the prestige and quality of the Beijing Olympic Games.
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Indonesia's only gold medal at the Olympics came in the men's doubles. Although it was a solid performance, the country's governing body admitted they fell short of expectations. National coach Christian Hadinata said the players must now put aside their Olympic triumphs and disappointments and focus on the Taiwan Grand Prix tournament. "Besides the Olympians, we are also preparing new players for upcoming events that could serve as a warm up for the Southeast Asian Games and Asian Games," Hadinata said during a presentation ceremony for the Indonesian Olympic medallists. The Taiwan event is the first of four tournaments that run until early October. It is followed by the Japan Super Series, China Masters and Macau Grand Prix. The men's doubles team of Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan, who took gold in Beijing, said these next few tournaments will help them prepare for their next big target - the All England championships. "We are proud about our achievement at the Olympics. However, we will be challenged to prove our worth at the All England Open," said Markis, who wants to emulate the achievement of compatriots Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto, who won the men's doubles title in Birmingham in 2003. The duo received US$164,000 for the Olympic gold medal while the mixed doubles pair of Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir, who took silver, earned half that amount. There was also a cash reward for women's singles bronze medallist Maria Kristin Yulianti, who took home around US$30,000. It was not only the players who received cash rewards but the coaches as well. The coaches of the men's doubles and mixed doubles team, as well as the women's singles coach, all received generous financial prizes. Badminton was Indonesia's major source of medals at the Olympics and the sport is again likely to lead the way in London in four year's time. |
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