Indonesia has long relied on badminton to win gold medals at the Olympic Games, a local media reported in Jakarta on Wednesday.
This year was no exception. The question was whether the country's shuttlers can retain "the gold medal tradition" with many of them yet to give a convincing performance on the international stage, it said.
Indonesian shuttler Taufik Hidayat was back, trying to recreate his winning form of four years ago, but his fitness remains in doubt as he was recovering from a fever, the post said.
"I think his condition is about 80 to 90 percent fit now," Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) chairman Sutiyoso was quoted by the Jakarta Post as saying? Wednesday.
Taufik has been in the spotlight because of his recent lackluster performance.
His winning form was most recently seen at the Yonex-Sunrise Asian Continental Championships in April last year, the post said.
This year, his best achievement was reaching the quarterfinals at the All England and Swiss Open, it said.
Indonesia was also pinning its medal hopes on the mixed and men's doubles, the media said.
For the mixed doubles, Indonesia was sending two-time world champions Nova Widiyanto and Lilyana Natsir and Asia champions Flandy Limpele and Vita Marissa, it said.
Lilyana said although she would also play in the women's doubles with Vita, her main focus would be on the mixed doubles, the post said.
The men's doubles are poised for tough tasks with top seeds and world champions Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan of Indonesia up against China's second pair Gua Zhendong-Xie Zhongbo in the first round, and the second seeds, former world champions Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng of China, to meet Danish veterans Jens Eriksen and Martin Lundgaard Hansen, it said.
Despite the tough trip to the next round, Kido was upbeat about his chances, the media said. "We want to win," he said. "And we will," it said.
Since badminton was first included in the Olympics in 1992, Indonesia has been winning gold medals in the event, with Susy Susanti and Alan Budikusuma taking out the women's and men's singles titles during the sport's debut year.
Men's doubles team Ricky Subagdja and Rexy Mainaky triumphed at the 1996 Atlanta Games, Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan won at the 2000 Sydney Olympics and Taufik took gold in the 2004 Athens Olympics.
(Xinhua News Agency August 7, 2008)