Former Indonesian players, Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian will play for England in 2001 Dutch Open (9-14 October)

Yup, and Eng Hain even said he left INA to go study abroad in Switzerland

This is a surprise but why England of all places? The usual place for the Indos especially as Eng Hian and Limpele are both Chinese would have been S'pore , Taipei, Hongkong or for financial reasons - US.
More interesting is that the Chinese have Lin Dan and Chen Yu in the men's singles line-up - well down the 8-men seeding but they should get to the semis at least.
Lin, Chen, Xiao Hui & Ji Xinpeng have dropped to 21-24 in the world rankings, so we have the unsual situation of Xia and ChenH on top and no Ch in between until No. 21. They will be vying for favour with the Chinese team coach except Ji has a big advantage and Lin is important to groom for the next T Cup and as a future WC. Xiao and Chen are going to be good GP players but unlikely to hit the top notes. Coco.

well, maybe rexy mainaky asked them to join with him

Prehaps, but if i'm not wrong and remembered correctly, Flandi isn't a chinese, hes a native Indonesian. Eng Hian is chinese though

England is not such a bad place to be, the BAE has obtained sponsorship from the national lottery for the next ten years. Money is not really the problem.

As far as Asian Badminton Federations are concerned, the only one I can see that is doing its job reasonably well are BAM from Malaysia. They have a solid development program and they don't chuck away their players at 23. Many of their youngsters are emerging right now, and they have full government support with the passion to see everything through. The successful senior players have their future assured as they are well looked after by the badminton association after they retire. Thus from this example, the juniors have peace of mind to perform as best as they can without any worries. Players of - Tony G, Eng Hian, Flandy, Taufik's - calibre would never have suffered such a fate in Malaysia, they would have had a good life and their legacy would have been assured.

As a staunch badminton fan of badminton in England, I would advice other associations to look at BAM's example. I was not pleased when BAM "stole" Park Joo Bong from the UK, but now I know that he made the right decision.
Don't cut away coaches or players that show little potential in the short term.

I don't think it is right to say that Flandy/Eng are playing for England in the 2001 Dutch Open. Don't forget the open is an individual event not a team event. It happened to a Chinese pair a couple of years ago in All England Championship. Players in the opens are usually lablled as the national association they entry the tournament, which is not necessarily saying they are play for that country. They simply play for themself. My guess is that Flandy/Eng are invited by BA of E to practise with their national squad (Raxy may have or haven't something to do with it), in return, BA of E will support them to play tournament.

Whatever the reason they chose England and no doubt its an individual event, they are representing England now. So i believe its quite safe to say that they are playing for England

you right byro, they are representing England.

Yeah, for me, thats a bad thing........... (*SIGH*) Why did Flandi/Eng leave INA to go to England........ i thought it was educational reasons...... And i thought they were going to Switzerland as well........

Hope they speak soon.......

It isn't necessarily a bad thing for the game as a whole, is it?

Lao Liu has a good point there.

If they really had changed nationality, why haven;t we seen the same noise that Mia Audina created when she moved to Holland.

Have Elandy/Eng Hian taken up British Nationality? Odds on they have not.

They may even be studying in UK whilst also being training partners for British pairs. Park Joo Bong was said to have done some sort of Masters course in UK whilst England coach. How he go the time is another matter.

The reason why i was really suprised was because Flandi/Eng said that they were going overseas to study...... They were quitting badminton to give priority to their studies......

They never said they were going to go represent some other country...... But then again they never said they werent

Yeah, I really want to know what the 'real' story is as well.

These guys don't know how much we want to know about their lives.

good point, however i think a possible explanation for their representing another country is that badminton is in their veins, as i'm sure it's in many of yours. i used to play a lot as a kid in school and one day i got sick of it and decided to quit. and quit i did... for a while. but once i picked up the racket again, there was no stopping me. it's just so much a part of my life that i won't live without it.

good point, however i think a possible explanation for their representing another country is that badminton is in their veins, as i'm sure it's in many of yours. i used to play a lot as a kid in school and one day i got sick of it and decided to quit. and quit i did... for a while. but once i picked up the racket again, there was no stopping me. it's just so much a part of my life that i won't live without it.
Heard that Eng Hian is coaching spore team now?

Heard that Eng Hian is coaching spore team now?

Yup yup, been a long time already.. Since he stopped his partnership with Rian Sukmawan in Djarum.

wow.. this thread comes alive again.. after dead since 2001 :)

SBA is in geylang so this why eng hian was there:) he is coaching the doubles...

SBA is in geylang so this why eng hian was there:) he is coaching the doubles...


oh i thought is something else u know geylang

haiyo please la if give eng hian free i guess he also dun wan la:D

haiyo please la if give eng hian free i guess he also dun wan la:D


I am not sure about that I saw him in Kelapa Gading Jakarta lol.......so I guess...hayo ENg Hian ngapaen lo?????? Don't be naughty ya...........wife and kids at home