Jonatan Christie. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Indonesia have raised eyebrows after leaving out big names Jonatan Christie and Fajar Alfian-Shohibul Fikri for the SEA Games badminton competition from Dec 7-14 in Thailand.
In a bold move, the Indonesian National Badminton Association (PBSI) have decided to name a team that has a combination of experience and youth for the biennial Games.
Jonatan and Fajar-Shohibul have been in fine form lately in the men's singles and men's doubles respectively but will not be a part of the team.
Instead, in the men's singles, PBSI have put their faith in rising youngster Alwi Farhan along with world junior championships silver medallist Moh Zaki Ubaidillah, Yohanes Saut and Prahdiska Bagas.
In the men's doubles, senior pair Leo Rolly-Bagas Maulana, who are currently ranked No. 16 in the world, have been given the nod along with youngsters Raymond Indra and Nikolas Joaquin.
In the women's singles, world No. 11 Gregoria Mariska, who has been struggling with fitness issues this year, misses out.
Indonesia though have a more than capable replacement in world No. 7 and world championships bronze medallist Putri Kusuma, who will be joined by promising youngsters Mutiara Ayu, Thalita Wiryawan and Ni Kadek Dhinda.
In the women's doubles where Indonesia have struggled this year, Febriana Dwipuji-Meilysa Trias and Rachel Allesya Rose-Febi Setianingrum have been given the opportunity to prove themselves.
Rising mixed doubles pairs Jafar Hidayatullah-Felisha Pasaribu and Amri Syahnawi-Nita Violina, who are ranked No. 11 and No. 19 in the world respectively, have also been chosen and will be looking to make their mark.
PBSI's head of development and performance Eng Hian said that the move to omit Jonatan, Gregoria and Fajar-Shohibul for the Games was to fasttrack the development of youngsters.
"We are still overly reliant on seniors like Jonatan, Gregoria and Fajar, Shohibul and we need to develop young talents faster," said Eng Hian in an interview posted in the PBSI website.
"This is why we have decided to name a team with youngsters and a few experienced players for the SEA Games.
"We need stronger depth in all the events. For example, in the women's singles, we have Putri and Gregoria but the others are still far behind."
