INDONESIA – Polii and Jauhari suspended, Setiawan back in

The lack of Olympic medals and the women’s doubles controversy also had its share of consequences in Indonesia, where Greysia Polii, Meiliana Jauhari (photo) and their coach were banned from international competition until  December 3rd, 2012, while Hendra Setiawan was called back in the PBSI stable to partner Muhammad Ahsan.

Raphael Sachetat. Photos (archives): Badmintonphoto

After the Badminton Korea Association, it is PBSI’s turn to take action on their players Greysia Polii and Meiliana Jauhari following the women’s doubles controversy in London 2012. The Indonesian national body expelled the two players for 4 months from any international competition.

“After studying and listening to all sides, the sanction will be applied from the date of the incident until December 3,” PBSI Secretary General Yacob Rusdianto told the Antara news agency on Tuesday.

“With all due respect, we suffer losses [in this decision] but it should be understood that the sanction should be given because they violated rules of fair play. The Badminton World Federation has declared them guilty.”

The Secretary also told the Jakarta Globe that he didn’t want the sanction to be too heavy on the players.

“Hopefully this could be accepted by all sides, don’t keep on delaying the sanction, have pity on the athletes,” he said. “There will always be pros and cons, there will be people who say it’s too light or too heavy.”

Earlier, on August 23rd, Meiliana Jauhari had told this same Indonesian daily newspaper that she would accept PBSI’s decision, whatever it was. However, she and her partner Greysia Polii are known to have asked to be able to play in local tournaments, referring to the fact that, in China, Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli were allowed to play in the China League later this month.

Indonesia’s coach Paulus Firman (photo) – who was on the chair during the incident in Wembley –  was also set aside by PBSI together with his players for a similar sanction.

Korea and Indonesia now both have taken action against both players and coaches. In China, players have been asked to apologize publicly, but no action has been taken against coaches or officials yet.

Hendra Setiawan back in the squad

2012 was the first time in the history of the Olympic badminton competition that the powerhouse failed to win gold and in fact, they did not get any medal.  This poor performance of Indonesia in London led the national body to call back former Olympic gold medallist Hendra Setiawan (photo) into the national team stable.  He and partner Markis Kido had been playing as independent players since 2009 and are currently the world’s number 5 pair in spite of not having qualified for London Games.  Setiawan will partner Muhammad Ahsan, who was formerly playing together with Kido’s brother, Bona Septano.

Ahsan and Setiawan will make their debuts together on the international stage in Denmark and French Super Series in October. Septano will now be partnering Afiat Yuris Wirawan, while Markis Kido is set for a temporary partnership with Alvent Yulianto.