WORLD CHAMPION ARBI INJURED AGAIN by Mike Grossman (from a report filed by Y.M. Fong) September 20, 1996 (new Shuttlenws) - Heryanto Arbi of Indonesia, the current badminton world champion in men's singles, has injured his thigh again, according to reports coming from the Indonesian badminton association, PBSI. Arbi is said to have reinjured his lower limb during the recent Indonesian Open. Arbi first injured his thigh during his successful world championship run in Lausanne, Switzerland in 1995. Since then, he has suffered repeat injuries to the same thigh as well as to his lower back. The thigh injury prevented the world champion from using his devastating jumpsmashing style of play at the ongoing Indonesian national championships and caused him to drop out of contention in the early rounds. Because of the injury, Arbi has not been named to the Indonesian contingent that will play at the upcoming U.S. Open in the Los Angeles area, the richest tournament in the international badminton competition circuit. Knowledgeable Indonesian observers add that Arbi may also be suffering from a loss of confidence and slight mental depression following his loss to eventual gold medalist Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark in the semifinals of the Atlanta Olympics and his stunning bronze-medal match defeat at the hands of Malaysian Rashid Sidek. New Shuttlenws (e-mail: n.shuttlenws@genie.com)