Indonesian Open and the recent earthquake

Here is an article from the Jakarta Post about how the Yogya quake has affected the Indonesian players:

The Jakarta Post

Yogya quake lies heavy on hearts of shuttlers

ID Nugroho, The Jakarta Post, Surabaya

While men's doubles specialist Sigit Budiarto continues to give his all on the court at the badminton Djarum Indonesian Open 2006, his heart is elsewhere: His family's house was destroyed in last Saturday's earthquake in Yogyakarta.

The quake has claimed the lives of more than 6,200 people and the numbers keep rising.

The 30-year-old shuttler was in Kudus, Central Java, to attend the official opening of his club's new badminton complex when he got a call from his younger sister.

"My sister only said there was a quake and asked me to call her back. I tried to call her, my house, my parents but I couldn't get through. I was very worried about them," said the 1997 world champion with former partner of Candra Wijaya.

His concern only grew when he saw on television the devastation wrought by the quake.

Sigit immediately left for his family's house in Kalasan, Central Java, which is quite close to Prambanan temple. "When I got there, I saw our house was flattened by the tremor. It was shocking. I was speechless."

It was not only his parents' house which was destroyed by the quake. His grandparents and other relatives also lost their homes.

The quake has left about 650,000 people homeless.

"My family is still lucky as none of us were seriously injured in the disaster," he said.

Sigit, who is eying a gold medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, considering withdrawing from the US$250,000 Indonesian Open, where he is playing with new partner Flandy Limpele.

"The tragedy has ruined my concentration. I didn't feel like playing. But I have to be professional. I can't just pull out. I should not be emotional," he said.

Sigit is not the only athlete affected by the tragedy. Shuttlers Tri Kusheryanto and Aprilia Yuswandari are also playing with heavy hearts.

Aprilia -- whose home is in Imogiri, Bantul, the area hardest hit by the quake -- went into a panic the minute she heard the news. Already in Surabaya for the tournament, Aprilia could only wait for news on her mobile phone.

"My family told me that our house was leveled by the quake but they all survived," she said. "I had to turn off my grief and stay focused on my game."

But it was not easy. Aprilia lost to second seeded Huaiwen Xu of Germany on Wednesday.