INA bdm squad delivered 4 gold, 2 silver and 2 bronze at 25th Laos SEAG, not bad result... Hopefully better outcome two years later when INA will be the host for 26th SEAG!
Summary of Team INA's performance this year. Starting with the National Team Players. Simon Santoso - 8/10, with 3 titles won in the Denmark SS and SEA Games Team & Individual Gold Medals. He still needs to improve and show consistent performances against top players like Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei, Peter Gade, Chen Jin, Bao Chunlai, and Park Sung Hwan. Sony Dwi Kuncoro - 6.5/10, with only 1 title in the SEA Games Team Gold Medal to show for, although he reached the SF of the World Championships by beating Lee Chong Wei which was perhaps his best match this year. Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan - 9/10, with 5 titles won in the BAC, Japan and French SS, and the SEA Games Team & Individual Gold Medals. Scored a 2-1 head-to-head record against Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong. The pairs that could beat them remain to be Jung Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae, Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen and the MAS pair (with Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun to a certain extent). This year, they lost to the above 3 pairs+AG/Alvent (twice), Fang/Lee (twice), and Robertson/Clark. Bona Septano/Mohd Ahsan - 7/10, with 2 titles won in the Philippines Open GP Gold and the SEA Games Team Gold Medal. Need to score wins over the top 10 pairs. Currently, they are still unable to beat the second pair of each country (except for Lars Paaske/Jonas Rasmussen in the recent match) and this does not bode well for the SEA Games next year. Rian Sukmawan/Yonathan Suryatama Dasuki - 6/10, still underperform and best performance is only a Final appearance in the Japan SS. Could only manage to beat Fairuz/Zakry once in their many encounters this year If they cannot win any title or reach top 8 by end of next year, time to reshuffle. Nova Widianto/Liliyana Natsir - 8.5/10, with 3 titles won in the MAS & French SS and the SEA Games Individual Event Gold Medal. They also reached the Final of the World Championships. I am still not convinced of whether Nova/Butet can win the big titles next year (AE, WC, and the Asian Games Gold) and they are particularly vulnerable to the top 3 European pairs: Laybourn/Juhl, Fischer-Nielsen/Pedersen, and Mateusiak/Kostiuczyk, losing to all the 3 pairs this year. Their records against Asian pairs are mixed...with Lee/Lee and Zheng/Ma being the rivals to watch for the Asian Games. As for other Chinese pairs, they have a good record against He/Yu but there are also newer pairs like Tao/Zhang who beat them this year! Fran Kurniawan/Pia Bernadet Zebadiah - 7/10, with 1 title won in the New Zealand Open GP. Undoubtedly, they are being prepared for the London Olympics and further progress is expected as they are playing more SS tourneys next year! Ahmad Tontowi/Richi Puspita Dili - 6.5/10, with 1 title won in the Vietnam IC. Much more is expected of them and hopefully, they can win against their seniors and start to play SS events next year. Mohd Rijal/Debby Susanto - 5/10, no titles won and Debby's injury hampered this pair's progress this year. Devin Lahardi/Lita Nurlita - 4/10, nothing to show for, a big fat 0. Time to wield the axe!
Adriyanti Firdasari - 4/10, I might be harsh but her best performances were only QF of SS events as best performances. Maria Kristin Yulianti - 3/10, honestly, Maria has been very affected by her knee injury, which resulted in her drastic drop in the rankings table. She could not even reach QF of any SS event this year. Returning back to PB Djarum is probably one choice, so that she could regain her confidence. Just look at Fransiska Ratnasari...she did the same thing this year and it has worked wonders for her in terms of 2 titles won! Lindaweni Fanetri - 5/10, a decent progress and more will be expected. Tommy Sugiarto - 5/10, 3 early exits in 6 tourneys, with best performance being SF in India Open GP Gold & Vietnam Open GP. More is expected of the ex WJC runner-up! As for the other reserve MS & WS players in the National Team, no marks for them. Nitya Krishinda Maheswari/Greysia Polii - 6/10, with only 1 Final appearance to show for this year and failed to win the SEA Games Team & Individual events this year. Again, more is expected of this year and at least 1 title as a target for next year. Meiliana Jauhari/Shendy Puspa Irawati - 5/10, this year is a disappointing year to them, as compared to 2008. Perhaps not used to the ccoaches in the National Team? IMHO, they might perform better if they remain in Djarum instead Annisa Wahyuni/Anneke Feinya Agustine - 8/10, the surprise this year is the double-A pair! They won 2 GP titles this year and have reached top 32 in just 8 tourneys! A lot will be expected of this pair next year. Komala Dewi/Keshya Nurvita Hanadia - 4/10, best performance is SF in Vietnam IC. Fernando Kurniawan/Lingga Lie - 4/10, nothing to show for this year and this resulted in an end to their 2 years partnership. Wifqi Windarto/Afiat Yuris Wirawan - 5/10, a better showing at least and reached SF of the Chinese-Taipei GP Gold. But, they are also being split.
Now for the Independent Players: Taufik Hidayat - 7.5/10. Taufik has been blowing hot and cold this year and surprisingly could still reach 3 Finals in SS events and also SF in the AE as well as WC. He also won the India Open GP Gold & US Open GP. Hendra A. Gunawan/Alvent Yulianto Chandra - 7.5/10. Also a mixed review. They only won the Indonesia IC but managed to reach top 5 ranking (which I believe is the limit for them) in just 1 year! They consistently reached QF and SFs...but when the bar is raised, they falter. So, when they play really well, they can beat Kido/Hendra and Boe/Mogensen. But, when they can also lose in early rounds to lowly pairs, which is really annoying I don't think they can break the top 4 ranking and I hope to be proven wrongly. They NEED TO WIN at least 1 GP Gold or SS title next year! Luluk Hadiyanto/Joko Riyadi - 6.5/10. I will give this pair a higher ranking than Rian/Yoke because they won a title in the Vietnam Open GP after beating several higher ranked MAS pairs! I hope they can still continue to play and reach at least top 20 next year, which will be a reasonable target for them. Hendra A. Gunawan/Vita Marissa - 7/10. Surprise surprise, Vita is back in the XD scene with a new partner and they have quickly risen up to no 6 in just half-a-year (which I believe is also their limit) with their first event being the Djarum Indonesia SS. Again, whenever Hendra A. G. is playing, he tends to suffer from bouts of inconsistencies, especially post QF. They need to win a title next year. As for Vita herself, she managed to win the India Open GP Gold with her old partner, Flandy Limpele. Vita Marissa/Mona Santoso - 5/10. Too few tourneys (only 3) to make an impact, but they have reached the Final of the Chinese-Taipei Open GP Gold by beating Gao Ling/Wei Yili and Zhang Dan/Zhang Zhibo! So, more will be expected of this year. Their 3 losses also came from 3 CHN pairs. Nadya Melati/Devi Tika Permatasari - 5/10. Ditto. They reached the Final of the India Open GP and QF of the Vietnam Open GP. So, I am sure more to come from this pair.
Now, for PB Djarum's players. Andre Kurniawan Tedjono - 5/10. This year is not a good year for Andre and his best performance is only QF. Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka - 8/10. In contrast, this year is an excellent year for Hayom! He won at least one title in the National Circuit, 3 Int titles and reached the QF of Hong Kong SS and Chinese-Taipei GP Gold. He has certainly shown his potential and I hope he will rise even further to the top 15 by end of next year. Fransiska Ratnasari - 8/10. A very high mark for her because I admire the courage and remarkable comeback shown by the ex-Pelatnas player! Just when everyone seems to give up on her, she was determined to prove them wrong and joined PB Djarum on her own accord. Her effort was certainly rewarded with 2 titles and several interesting matches this year (including her latest one with Saina Nehwal just 2 days ago), which certainly convince me that she's not finished yet! She will reach top 45 by the time the ranking table is updated next week. Maria Febe Kusumastuti - 7/10. She won a GP title and reached the Final in another one. I think she will reach top 25 next week. More will also be expected of her.
I think the review should cover most of the players. I purposedly left out the back-up players in the National Team (like Yoga, Nugroho, Rizki, etc) and also some of PB Djarum's players playing in the National Circuit like Andreas Adityawarman, Rosaria Yusfin Pungkasari, and also Maria Elfira Christina.
Juniors that I have very high hopes on: Riyanto Subagja - obviously. He won several domestic and international events already and he will be the one to watch out for in the AJC and WJC next year! Sheshar Hiren Rhustavito - I believe he's younger than Riyanto and still has a couple of years to play for in the National Circuits (Taruna). Subhan Hasan - the big rival for Riyanto and Vito in the National Circuits. He seem to partner well with Agripinna Prima too in the BD. They won a title yesterday in the Li-Ning Singapore Youth International! So, doubles could be a good option for him if things don't go well in the Singles. I am not too familiar with the girls but Hanna Ramadhini, Anggia Shita Awanda, Shela Devi Aulia, Dian Fitriani, Lya Ersalita, Ruseli Hartawan might give us options instead of the miserable batch we had in Pelatnas Pratama. I am pretty sure Sandy or Krisna can give us a better & more comprehensive reviews of our girls. The doubles (boy and mixed) are the sectors that we have several proven potentials. Mohd Ulinnuha/Berry Angriawan - proven & tested so far this year. The best BD pair we have and arguably one of the top BD pairs in the World too! They won several international junior events and the Open category of the National Circuit. It was a case of so near yet so far for them in the WJC....that heart-breaking match that we could still not forget But, WJC is just for juniors and they need to prove themselves even more in the coming year! Yohannes Rendy Sugiarto - another proven talent in BD. The only problem we seem to have is finding a right partner for Rendy The coaches need to decide if Angga Pratama is the suitable LT partner or someone else. Mohd Rizki Delynugraha doesn't seem to be the one after several failed experiments in the National Circuits. Angga Pratama/Ryan Agung Saputra - this pair could also be an option and they showed some good performances this year in the National Circuits. They also reached the Final of the Indonesia IC, losing to AG/Alvent. Budi Hartono/Ricky Karanda Suwardi - winners of several National Circuits titles and also the Tangkas Alfamart Junior Int. Didit Juang Indrianto/Seiko Wahyu Kusdianto - I am not sure if they are being prepared for the AJC and WJC next year. Dandi Prabudita/Jones Ralfy Jansen - this is the pair that might compete in the AJC and WJC next year. They reached the Final of the Tangkas Alfamart Junior Int. Irfan Fadhilah/Wenny Angriani - possibly the best XD pair we have in the Pratama right now?? But also have Kevin Alexander/Suci Rizki Andini. Budi Hartono/Aurien Hudiono - they won at least one National Circuit title. Ricky Karanda Suwardi/Ayu Pratiwi - they won the last National Circuit by beating Jones Ralfy Jansen/Nurbeta Kwanrico. Jones Ralfy Jansen/Nurbeta Kwanrico - I believe the pair and the above 2 pairs make up our best U19 XD pairs. Arch rivals in the Taruna category too for most of the National Circuits.
Oh not to forget Ana Rovita & Febby Angguni. Hopefully, they offer us more options in the WS for the coming years. Likewise, I am not that familiar with the GD part. Sandy could fill in for me
I am impressed byPB Mutiara's Hanna Rahmadini... Suci-Tiara of PB Mutiara is also impressive... They will play again in AJC and WJC 2010...
Tiara born 1993, still 16 y.o I prefer Tiara & Suci play WS again, since no much choice in WS while many choice players in WD. Also preparation for 2010 Youth Olympics where the players who born 92 & 93 are allowed compete there. I take assumption all junior players as U-19 players, because of problem in age verify. We still hard to find future INA WS who has potential as World/China beater. Febby Angguni, first choice as WS INA junior this year. Hard worker but limited in physical. Ana Rovita, Yip Pui Yin in smaller version, less than 160 cm heigh. A lot of trick shot from her, has jumping smash or drop shot, good defense. Siti Anida, has ideal physicall, 176 cm heigh but her technically still raw need more experience. She should find the suitable coach for her. Another players has short physical problems too : Elyzabeth Purwaningtyas, Rena Suwarno (injury problem too), Yeni Asmarani. The younger generations : Hana Ramadhini, winner some U-16 tournament and proved us by compete in U-19 and through to final by beaten some Top U-19 players. Anggia Shita Awanda & Shella Devi Aulia, winner some U-16 tournament but got problem when compete in WS U-19. Looked like they are more comfortable as WD players. Lya Ersalita & Ruselly Hartawan, dominated in U-14 WS & WD category. Very rarely compete in higher age category. One reference in Tangkas Alfamart Junior U-19, Ersalita forced Hana Ramadhini in 3 sets while Hana forced Sonia Cheah (WS winner) in 3 sets too. So far Hana Ramadhini who has proved us on her performance this year. The others players are : Anggia Shita Awanda, Lya Ersalita & Ruselly Hartawan. They are good in their age category but we need to see their performance more in higher age category U-19. Tiara Rosalia, Rizki Suci Andini and Elyzabeth were top U-16 WS in 2008.
Pratama's WD : Tiara Rosalia, Suci Rizki Andini, Della Destiara, I Made Claudia Wijaya, Gebby Ristiani (pairing with Wenny Setiawati) Only Claudia Wijaya who can't compete in Junior next year. They still best INA WD junior this time. Others WD pairs are : Nurbetta Kwanrico/Aulia Putri Darajat, They won some Sirnas WD U-19 winner in 1st half periode this year. In 2nd half time, they lost to some pairs, maybe Nurbetta focused on other discipline, XD. Deariska Putri Medita/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja, "Tall Combo" 180 cm & 177 cm height. Taller & slimmer version of Shendy/Meliana. New combo, good progress lately by winning U-19 WD on Sirnas Makasar.