The Indonesian men's badminton squad is in the same group as powerhouse China and India at the Doha Asian Games next month, which will make it difficult for Indonesia to win the group and secure a berth in the semifinals.
Saturday's drawing by the Badminton Asia Confederation put dark horse South Korea, Vietnam and Thailand in Group MB and another hot favorite Malaysia, Japan and Hong Kong of China in Group MC.
The winner of each group will automatically advance to the semifinals, while the runner-up in each group will fight for the remaining semifinal slot.
Indonesia, no longer a dominant force in the continent, is not a solid team, with hopeful Taufik Hidayat failing to perform well in recent tournaments and second best Sony Dwi Kuncoro in bad shape after foot surgery, leading English daily The Jakarta Post reported Monday.
That leaves Simon Santoso as Taufik's confidant in the individual team.
Only duo Markis Kidho and Hendra Setiawan have shown promising progress, defeating Fu and Cai to grab the China Open title in late October.
With the women's team, Indonesia's chance of reaching the semis is even slimmer, with the team being in the same group as China and Malaysia. Thailand, Hong Kong of China, Singapore are in Group WY, while South Korea, Japan and Chinese Taipei are in Group WZ.
The women's team competition uses the same format as the men's team competition.
(source: Xinhua)
