Indonesian Badminton Player Sony Dwi Kuncoro Out of 2010 World Championships

Without even lifting his racket, Sony Dwi Kuncoro finds himself beaten again by a familiar foe.

The men’s singles shuttler has withdrawn from the 2010 World Championships because of a recurring back problem.

The 15-strong Indonesia squad flew to Paris for the Aug. 23-29 tournament on Friday night

However, according to national men’s singles coach Agus Dwi Santoso, Sony chose not join the squad to France after “feeling pain in his back area” during training at the national team headquarters in Cipayung, East Jakarta.

“The pain first occurred during a training session on Wednesday and worsened every day,” Agus said.

“He couldn’t move well, so he said it was better to just focus on having the injury treated than gamble and play in France.”

Sony has struggled with his form since the back problems emerged in March 2009. He didn’t win a title last year and was hampered by the injury during the Thomas Cup finals in May. He broke a near two-year drought when he won the Singapore Open Super Series title in June.

Prior to his back issues, Sony was being touted as Indonesia’s next great men’s singles shuttler, having won the Indonesia Open, the Japan Open and the China Masters in succession in 2008.

Without Sony, Indonesia will now rely on former Olympic and world champion Taufik Hidayat and world No. 6 Simon Santoso for victory in men’s singles at the Paris worlds.

Taufik, whose title in the world championships in 2005 was the last for an Indonesian men’s singles shuttler, is hoping to become only the third male player to win multiple singles titles at the world championships.

Two Chinese players, Yang Yang (1987 and 1989) and Lin Dan (2006, 2007, 2009), have accomplished the feat.

The 29-year-old Taufik will open his campaign against Nigerian Ola Fagbemi, and could face world No. 1 Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the quarterfinals.

Simon’s first-round opponent is Przemyslaw Wacha of Poland.

In men’s doubles, Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan aim to recapture the title they lost last year. Markis and Hendra, the 2007 champions and currently ranked No. 2 in the world, withdrew from last year’s tournament because Markis fell ill.

However, Hendra said they are now ready to compete.

“There’s only one goal for us and that’s to win the championship,” Hendra said. “We’re very motivated, because we just want to make amends for missing out on last year’s tournament.”

Markis and Hendra have not been impressive this season, their only win coming in the Malaysia Open Grand Prix in July.

The reigning Olympic champions received a bye in the first round and are set to take on Poland’s Adam Cwalina and Michal Logosz in the second round.

Indonesia was shut out in last year’s worlds held in India.

(This article was published on www.thejakartaglobe.com on Aug. 20, 2010. Photo: Jurnasyanto Sukarno/JG)