Olympic gold is main target for Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir, says head coach Christian Hadinata
Indonesia’s head coach Christian Hadinata said that the top Mixed Doubles players Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir may miss the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup Finals in May as their major target this year is to win Olympic gold.
The Olympic Games will take place at London and the badminton event will be kicked off at Wembley Indoor Arena in the last week of July.
Tontowi and Liliyana, who are currently World Number Four in Mixed Doubles world placements, are in prime form as they have recently won two back-to-back tournaments including All England Open and Swiss Open.
They are the only hope for the country to win a gold medal at Olympic Games as no other Indonesian shuttler at the moment seems to win a title in any category of the game.
Hadinata knows well that Tontowi and Liliyana stand a chance to keep alive the Indonesia’s winning tradition in Olympic Games.
He said, “We acknowledge that they are probably our only chance to win gold medal in London. So, we have to take a good care of them. Their top priority is the Olympic.”
Indonesia’s legendary player Ivana Lie, who with Hadinata won the Mixed Doubles title at Badminton World Cup 1985, said that Liliyana should not participate in Uber Cup Finals as Indonesia stands a meagre chance to win the championship.
Ivana wants Liliyana to remain focused for Olympic Games, which is the ultimate target for the duo.
The Indonesian legend wants shuttlers to take proper rest and participate in Olympic Games while remaining fresh.
Ivana said, “[Liliyana] shouldn’t play in the Uber Cup finals, because I don’t think we could win the trophy anyway. She’s a bit injury-prone, so it’d be better to give her and Tontowi proper time to rest before the Olympics.”
In 2011, Liliyana was suffered with an injury in her elbow that caused her to stay away from competitive badminton for two months.
She also received another injury, this time in her shoulder, in the opening month of this year.
However, her impressive performance in the recent events indicates the she has fully recovered from injuries and will live up to expectations in Olympics.
Tags: