A 'mission impossible' for RI Asiad squad<\/p>\n
Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Busan, South Korea<\/p>\n
The 2002 Asian Games (Asiad) in Busan is scheduled to open on
\nSunday. South Korean teenagers are gearing up to witness the
\npromised spectacular ceremony. Fireworks will color the second
\nbiggest sports event in the world.<\/p>\n
But one question remains: What will happen to Indonesia?<\/p>\n
President Megawati Soekarnoputri has demanded the impossible:
\nbring home 15 of the 420 golds at stake.<\/p>\n
But with 44 countries competing? Is it realistic?<\/p>\n
Well, Madam President, let's see.<\/p>\n
Combing through the contingent, one easily recognizes the old
\nhands: shuttlers Hendrawan, Marlev Mainaky, Taufik Hidayat,
\nCandra Wijaya, Sigit Budiarto, Tri Kusherjanto and Bambang
\nSuprianto. They were all members of the 2002 Thomas Cup winning
\nteam.<\/p>\n
Wait a minute! Where are Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Ardiansyah?
\nSadly, they are spending their days practicing at the Indonesian
\nBadminton Center in Cipayung, East Jakarta, while their rivals at
\nthe 2000 World Junior Championships, Lin Dan and Bao Chunlai of
\nChina, are busy defending their country at the Asiad.<\/p>\n
Other familiars are 30-year-old swimmer Richard Sam Bera and
\n30-year-old gymnast Jonathan Sianturi.<\/p>\n
What does it mean? It means the National Sports Council (KONI)
\nand sports organizations have failed in the grooming of junior
\nathletes. It will likely lead to the failure of fulfilling
\nMegawati's demand of 15 golds.<\/p>\n
Surprisingly, Indonesia's deputy chef de mission Imron ZS has
\nboasted that \"we can even surpass the expectation of 15 golds\".<\/p>\n
Indonesia's best record is the 11 golds it won at the 1962
\nAsiad here. Since then the country's achievements have declined,
\nwith the second best record of eight golds at the eighth Asiad in
\nBangkok in 1986. Twelve years later in the same city, Indonesia
\ntook six golds.<\/p>\n
With the stagnant grooming process, our athletes will carry a
\nheavy burden on their shoulders once the Games torch, called the
\nUnification Flame, is lit at the cauldron in Busan Asiad Main
\nStadium.<\/p>\n
History has shown that Indonesian sporting society is
\ncurrently at its lowest point following the prolonged monetary
\ncrisis which first struck the country in 1997. Financial
\nrestraints are being blamed for sports organizations' failure in
\nsports development.<\/p>\n
This year's preparation was not without obstacles.<\/p>\n
First was the lack of money, which is a lame excuse
\nconsidering that Indonesia first started to lose its grip in the
\nSoutheast Asian (SEA) Games in 1999 in Bandar Seri Begawan,
\nBrunei, by only finishing third. It was the humiliating result
\nwhich, eventually, continued in the 2001 Games in Kuala Lumpur.<\/p>\n
The second problem is sports organizations' reluctance to pay
\nattention to junior athletes' development. They prefer to follow
\nKONI's instruction by only deploying seasoned athletes in
\nmultisports events \"for the sake of the country's pride\".<\/p>\n
To KONI, Asian Games and SEA Games are not the right events to
\nsend juniors who may not be able to deliver in their debuts. The
\norganizations have forgotten that grooming junior athletes also
\nincludes sending them to big events with more seasoned athletes.<\/p>\n
Countries like Thailand, Vietnam, China and Korea always send
\njunior athletes to prepare them for future major events.<\/p>\n
Vietnam surely has set its sights high as it will host the
\n2003 SEA Games. The host country will not accept a bad
\nperformance in front of a home crowd. As for Thai athletes, they
\nhave the Athens 2004 Olympiad on their minds.<\/p>\n
Busan is definitely not Jakarta. With a four million
\npopulation, the city in South Korea hosted three matches of the
\n2002 World Cup soccer final -- which it jointly hosted with
\nneighboring Japan -- and is now hosting the Asian Games, the
\nsecond biggest major sports event after the Olympics.<\/p>\n
What about Jakarta?<\/p>\n
Busan's sister city's fate is completely different. The
\ncountry's only major sports complex is in Senayan -- the Bung
\nKarno Sports Complex -- but there have been no real improvements
\nto it since it was built by the first president back in the
\n1960s.<\/p>\n
Without proper facilities, it's little wonder that it is
\ndifficult for Indonesia to prepare its best athletes for major
\nsports events.<\/p>\n
Of course, dreaming of hosting a big event like Asiad would be
\ntoo much for a crowded city like Jakarta with its 12 million
\npeople.<\/p>\n
Perhaps Megawati should include sports development in the
\nstate budget to enable sports organizations to groom athletes
\nbetter and then athletes could concentrate on training without
\nworrying about finding a job. The next time the President
\nrequests a number of gold medals to be brought home, our athletes
\ncould quickly reply \"at your service Mr.\/Mrs. President. It's no
\nproblem at all.\"<\/p>\n
After that, we could start dreaming of having Jakarta or some
\nother city host the Asiad with a spectacular fireworks display.<\/p>",
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