FIVE INDONESIAN SHUTTLERS TO PLAY IN CUBA

Jakarta, March 5 (ANTARA) - Five Indonesian badminton players plan to take part in the men's single event of a badminton tournament to be held by Pan Am Badminton in Havana, Cuba, on March 26-28.

"This is the follow up of a memorandum of understanding on sports cooperation with Cuba. They have asked us to send our players there," youth and sports minister's assistant deputy for achievement affairs Marhot Harahap said after accompanying the minister, Adhyaksa Dault, at a meeting with executive board members of the Indonesian Badminton Association PBSI.
Marhot said besides inviting Indonesian players to participate in the Future Series category tournament, Cuba had also asked for coaches to develop badminton in that country.
"This coach request has not yet been followed up," he said.
Regarding the five badminton players to be sent to Cuba he said he had asked the PBSI to determine them.
PBSI's head of achievement development Lius Pongoh said that he had proposed players from clubs to participate in the event in Cuba because it would coincide with India Open Grand Prix Tournament that would be attended by players from the National Training Center.
"I have proposed sending players from the clubs because the class of players from the National Training Center would be too high for the tournament and so that the club players would also have an experience of playing in an overseas tournament," he said.
Besides badminton Indonesia has also cooperated with Cuba in the fields of boxing, volley ball and wrestling.
In the meeting that was also attended by PBSI chairman Djoko Santoso, the minister expressed his idea to set up a badminton school in the country.
"I am thinking of establishing a badminton center of excellence, a kind of badminton academy as we have not had it," he said.
On the occasion the minister also expressed the hope that badminton would remain the country's reliable sports branch that could continue contributing Olympic gold medals.