‘China still top Asian badminton team’

JAKARTA: Badminton Asia president Anton Subowo denies China are in crisis after their shuttlers missed out on a singles medal at the Asian Games for the first time in 38 years.

Top-seeded Chinese Shi Yuqi crashed out in the opening round in Jakarta to Indonesian gold winner Jonatan Christie, while another local favourite Anthony Sinisuka Ginting took down Olympic champion Chen Long in the quarter-finals.

The Badminton Asia chief told AFP in an interview that China’s dominance of the sport will continue because of their ability to churn out young and talented players regularly.

Subowo played down comments by China’s singles coach Xia Yuze, who called the Jakarta badminton arena a “devil’s home” due to the drift coming from the air conditioners.

Subowo said the breeze that the Chinese are talking about is “not unusual” to badminton courts around the world and top players know how to handle it.

He was also impressed with the new breed of Indonesia giant-killers who took the Asian Games by storm.

While Subowo said that the country may never see another Taufik Hidayat — the Indonesian legend who captured world and Olympic gold — players like the Ginting demonstrate that the future was bright.

The 21-year-old Ginting settled for a bronze after his dream run ended in the semi-finals, to give Indonesia two singles medals for the first time since the 2002 Asian Games.

“I hope this Asian Games can be the stepping stone for the men’s players to move forward to higher competitions and improve their ranking,” said Subowo.