Friday, August 31, 2007
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia's shuttlers have decided to skip the India Super Series and prepare themselves for their next assignments in Japan and Taiwan, following last week's bomb blasts in the southern Indian city of Hyderabad, the site of the competition.
The head of the training division of the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI), Lius Pongoh, said the association had sent a letter to the Badminton Association of India to notify them that the Indonesian squad would not fly to the country for safety reasons.
"We decided to cancel our participation in the tournament due to security concerns. The bomb blasts were very close to the badminton venue," Lius said Thursday.
Last week's double explosions killed at least 42 people and injured 50 in Hyderabad, where the tournament was planned to be held from Sept. 4-9.
Lius added that the chairman of the Indian Badminton Association, VK Verma, had also informed Indonesia of delays to the event, but said no definite revised date had been set.
However, Lius said he was unconvinced the Indian association would end up setting a different date to the one originally planned, since it would place the tournament only days away from the Japan Super Series from Sep. 11-16 and the Chinese Taipei Grand Prix from Sep. 18-23. (02)
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