BY: HAFIZAN TAIB
SHAH ALAM, JUL 18: Musica Flypower from Indonesia emerged as champions of the Foo Kok Keong International Invitational Badminton Championship but it was not a walk in the park for them.
Team manager Effendy Widjaja said while they successfully defended the title for the fourth time, the tournament this year provided for more twists and turns for the team.
It was more challenging than the previous year as Malaysia, Thailand, Taiwan and the rest strengthened their teams with their former top players, he said.
“The tournament is getting better every year with teams that are better prepared and trained, and there was strong competition from Taiwan’s KCBC before going to the finals.
“We also lost Rexy Mainaky and Bambang Suprianto who couldn’t join us as they are coaching Indonesia for the 2016 Olympics in Rio, Brazil.
“We might have just been lucky to win it,” Widjaja told SelangorKini after the prize giving and closing ceremony.
Musica Flypower emerged as champions after defeating Suanium Ruammitr of Thailand 3-0 in the finals. Widjaja led the team in receiving the championship trophy and RM10,000 from Youth, Sports, Culture and Entrepreneur Development Exco Amirudin Shari.
They are keen to participate in the championship next year if invited and would strengthen the team with better players, adding, “We would be happy to participate, and just like other teams, we will be better prepared as the competition will definitely be stronger than ever.”
