Badminton hooligans are probably recruits, said a shrink<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): A psychologist suspects that most of the rowdy,
\nbottle-throwing Indonesian supporters at the Thomas Cup final on
\nSaturday were recruited to be there.<\/p>\n
\"Judging from their wildly vicious behavior, I suspect that
\nthese people did not pay for their tickets and, in fact, were
\nrecruits of a 'particular party',\" Dr. Budi Matindas, a
\npsychologist from the University of Indonesia, said yesterday.<\/p>\n
Matindas declined to name the \"particular party.\"<\/p>\n
He told The Jakarta Post that he suspects the raucous
\nspectators were \"most probably comprised of people with low
\nintellects and a lot of emotional baggage.\"<\/p>\n
Indonesia's first Thomas triumph after a 10 year struggle was
\ntainted by controversy after some of the ecstatic home fans
\nrained the Malaysian players with empty plastic bottles during
\nthe course of the games.<\/p>\n
Despite the deployment of several hundred security officials
\nat Senayan, order was difficult to maintain as the stadium, which
\nis designed to hold only 10,000 spectators, was flooded by well
\nover 12,000 mostly partisan Indonesian supporters on Saturday.<\/p>\n
The row started when Malaysia's Ong Ewe Hock was hit on the
\nshoulder by an empty plastic bottle as he was about to loose the
\nmatch to Indonesia's Ardy Wiranata at 5-14 in the second set.<\/p>\n
Indonesia was already ahead 2-0 in the best of five final.<\/p>\n
The championship was stopped at 3-0 after Ardy's victory by
\nthe Swedish honorary umpire Roger Johansson, reportedly at the
\nrequest of Datuk Abdullah Fadzil Che Wan, president of the
\nBadminton Association of Malaysia (BAM).<\/p>\n
Johansson, however, claimed that his action was based on
\n\"mutual agreement from all sides involved\".<\/p>\n
At another occasion, Punch Gunalan, BAM's secretary and the
\nMalaysian team manager, threatened that the Indonesians will
\nreceive similar treatment at the hands of the Malaysian fans
\nshould the two rivals meet again on his side of the border.<\/p>\n
This is the second time in the Thomas Cup's 45 year history
\nthat the final has not been completed. The first was in 1967,
\nbetween the same two countries, and in the same stadium, where
\nthe crowd nearly started a riot.<\/p>\n
Then, when the Thomas was still played as the best of nine
\ngames, the Malaysians were leading 4-3 when the tournament was
\naborted. The championship was eventually awarded to Malaysia 6-3
\nafter Indonesia refused to continue at a neutral venue.<\/p>\n
Matindas also suspects, based on what he termed \"casual
\nobservation\", that the maniacal spectators were all poor.<\/p>\n
\"I don't think intellectually mature and educated spectators
\nwill go as far as throwing bottles or painting their faces,\" he
\nsaid.<\/p>\n
Malaysian fans<\/p>\n
On a separate occasion, Indonesian badminton legend Rudy
\nHartono, eight time All England single champion who is now an
\nofficial of the International Badminton Federation (IBF), said
\nIndonesians supporters are not necessarily to blame for the
\nunwelcome projectiles.<\/p>\n
\"It is possible that it was the disappointed Malaysian fans
\nwho were throwing things at their athletes,\" Rudy said.<\/p>\n
The veteran also said that he will \"argue for Indonesia\" at
\nsubsequent IBF meetings.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Lufti Hamid, the team manager for the Indonesian
\nUber and Thomas Cups, said that the Malaysian crowds were just as
\nrowdy at their previous meeting in Kuala Lumpur in the 1993 world
\nbadminton Grand Prix finals last December.<\/p>\n
\"They also threw empty bottles and other hard objects at us
\nthen, but we never complained,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Lufti also remarked that some Indonesian supporters at that
\ntournament were detained by the Malaysian police.<\/p>\n
He also said that he was not afraid of possible retaliation
\nfrom the Malaysian spectators at future meetings.<\/p>\n
Soerjadi, chairman of the Badminton Association of Indonesia
\n(PBSI) who is also the army's deputy chief of staff, contended
\nthat the mob's behavior was \"still normal.\"<\/p>\n
State Minister for Youth and Sports Development Hayono Isman,
\nwho sat in the VIP box for all of Saturday night's matches,
\nconcurred that the behavior of the Indonesian spectators remained
\nwithin \"reasonable limits\".<\/p>\n
Bonus<\/p>\n
In an unrelated development, Lufti said that a number of
\nsponsors will shortly shower the Indonesian shuttlers with prizes
\nin reward for their successful capture of badminton's two most
\nprestigious titles.<\/p>\n
He said that Yonex will grant the Thomas team members Rp 100
\nmillion each and the Uber squad Rp 80 million each.<\/p>\n
Both President and Mrs. Soeharto have also sent a
\ncongratulatory note to the two teams. (hdj)<\/p>\n
Editorial-- Page 4<\/p>", "url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/badminton-hooligans-are-probably-recruits-said-a-shrink-1447899208", "image": "" }, "sponsor": "Okusi Associates", "sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com" }