From Guangzhou with pride<\/p>\n
To the delight of many here at home, the men's team 2002
\nThomas Cup badminton competition in Guangzhou, China, finished
\nwith Indonesia making history once again, bringing home the
\ntrophy for the fifth consecutive time and a total of 13 times in
\nall. Facing archrival Malaysia in the final, the team started
\nwaveringly but senior shuttler Hendrawan helped the country in
\nthe do-or-die decisive match to retain the coveted trophy.<\/p>\n
Once again, badminton has lifted the country's pride. Many
\nIndonesians had been in doubt about the national team's
\ncapabilities in view of the team's poor preparation, starting
\nfrom their poor performance in the Grand Prix series earlier this
\nyear, to a dispute between singles Taufik Hidayat and the
\nBadminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) over his move to
\nSingapore and Hendrawan's problem in acquiring his Indonesian
\ncitizenship certificate (SBKRI).<\/p>\n
Mounting motivation, however, helped arouse in the shuttlers
\nthe determination to score yet another historical feat and helped
\nthem work harder.<\/p>\n
The victory, however, raises a very important question: Who
\nwill defend the trophy in two years time? Indonesia's team line-
\nup comprises old-hand players, including singles Hendrawan,
\nMarlev Mainaky, Budi Santoso and doubles Tri Kusheryanto and
\nBambang Suprianto. While other countries, particularly host
\nChina, have deployed their second stringers, PBSI insisted in
\nfielding their seniors. The result was good, but danger looms
\nshould PBSI fail to begin grooming youngsters, including singles
\nplayers Ardiansyah and Sony Dwi Kuncoro.<\/p>\n
PBSI chairman Chaerul Tanjung has set himself the high
\nambition of making a clean sweep at the 2004 Athens Olympics --
\nthe same year the Thomas Cup is at stake again. Despite the fact
\nthat the possibility of success is slight, he has appointed
\neight-time All England champion Rudy Hartono to be in charge of
\nthe ambitious project. PBSI still has a chance to field the
\nsecond stringers in the Grand Prix series and other international
\nevents, including the 2002 Busan Asian Games, the 2003 Southeast
\nAsian Games, the 2003 World Championships, before preparing them
\nfor the major events in 2004.<\/p>\n
Besides their hard work, our shuttlers, just like other
\nathletes, also need to be rewarded. They definitely do not need
\nto be given hero titles, nor paraded around the city or given
\nmedals. What they need is the guarantee of being able to live a
\nreasonably comfortable life when their heyday is over. They also,
\nlike other citizens, deserve fair treatment from our officials.<\/p>\n
With lifetime guarantees, our athletes, not only shuttlers,
\ncan focus their attention more on their international
\nachievements without having to think of what to do to earn more
\nmoney. We don't want to see our heroes end up selling instant
\nnoodles as did Martha Kase, the 1987 Southeast Asian Games silver
\nmedalist for the 3,000 meters running event. We want the
\ngovernment to provide them with lifetime allowances based on
\ntheir international performances.<\/p>\n
Athletes are taken from their families at a very young age and
\nare forced to leave school to concentrate on training every
\nsingle day. The welfare of athletes should therefore be protected
\nby the Sports Bill, which until today remains in its draft form
\nat the House of Representatives.<\/p>\n
It would be most appropriate and beneficial for our
\nlegislators to work harder for the welfare of the people,
\nincluding our shuttlers, and to stop thinking of the 2004 general
\nelection only.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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