Hendrawan willing to trade badminton title<\/p>\n
By Primastuti Handayani<\/p>\n
JAKARTA (JP): When he became the new world champion, shuttler
\nHendrawan defeated not only Danish Peter Gade Christensen but, in
\na sense, those who ever doubted him because he is getting on in
\nage (he's 29) and he recently married long-time sweetheart Silvia
\nAnggraeni.<\/p>\n
Hendrawan showed his mettle in the World Championship last
\nSunday in Seville, Spain, and became the fifth Indonesian to win
\nthe title after Rudy Hartono, Icuk Sugiarto, Joko Suprianto and
\nHaryanto Arbi.<\/p>\n
The world number four shuttler (based on the International
\nBadminton Federation latest ranking dated June 14), however, does
\nnot think the world title compensates for the feeling of shame
\nbecause of his failure to bring home the Sudirman Cup. He lost to
\nChen Hong of China in the competition held just one week earlier
\nalso in Seville.<\/p>\n
"The journalists (covering the world badminton championship)
\nwere incredulous when I said I wished I could trade the title
\nwith the Sudirman Cup," he told The Jakarta Post in a recent
\ninterview here.<\/p>\n
"They accused me of belittling the world title. I was not, the
\nIndonesian people do, though, because they would have been
\nprouder if I had brought home the cup."<\/p>\n
Excerpts of the interview:<\/p>\n
Question: How is life after becoming the world champion?"<\/p>\n
Answer: Oh, the same as usual. I consider winning the world
\nchampion title an ordinary thing. Now if I had won the Olympics
\ngold, perhaps I would have quit badminton because that's my goal.
\nI think the Olympics is the biggest and most prestigious sports
\nevent.<\/p>\n
I had not been pressured to win the world title but the
\nSudirman Cup -- because it was a team event and everybody had
\nexpected me to win my game.<\/p>\n
You appear to be perturbed by your failure in the Sudirman
\nCup.<\/p>\n
Of course, I am. I was very disappointed because of the defeat
\nin the final game. I apologized to the whole team and none of
\nthem blamed me.<\/p>\n
But I believe there are still people who question the team's
\nstrategy in fielding me rather than Taufik Hidayat. I did my best
\nbut Chen Hong played an extraordinary match in the final.<\/p>\n
Prior to the championship, I was depressed for two days. I did
\nnot play well during my first match against Kazuhiro Shimogami of
\nJapan.<\/p>\n
I wish I could trade my world champion title with the Sudirman
\nCup. The trophy means more than my title to the country. The
\nforeign journalists were shocked when I said in the press
\nconference that I would trade my title with the cup any time.
\nThey said I was belittling my title.<\/p>\n
I wasn't but our people did. They would have been prouder and
\nhappier if I had brought home the Sudirman Cup after 12 years
\nwait.<\/p>\n
Still I believe that in 2003 we can win the Sudirman Cup in
\nEindhoven, the Netherlands, especially because it will take place
\nseparately from the World Championships in Birmingham, England.
\nHopefully we'd be able to concentrate better on each event.<\/p>\n
Did you ever think you would become the world champion?"<\/p>\n
No, I didn't. Since leaving Jakarta on May 24, I kept focusing
\non the Sudirman Cup. After the Cup's final, I started to think of
\nthe championship matches one by one. When entering the final
\nmatch, I began to have this 'winning feeling'. In fact, I was
\nvery surprised at how well I played. It was beyond my
\nexpectations."<\/p>\n
How do you feel after beating Gade Christensen?<\/p>\n
Peter and I had spoken in the earlier rounds, that it would be
\nnice if we both could reach the final. And we did. Unfortunately,
\nonly one of us could win. However, Peter is still one of the best
\nplayers in the world.<\/p>\n
Are you close to Peter?<\/p>\n
Well, we only meet in tournaments but we are quite friendly
\nwith one another. When I got married early this year, I sent him
\nan invitation to the wedding but he could not make it and sent me
\na gift instead. He's nice."<\/p>\n
As an athlete, you're getting older but you have been
\nperforming even better. Which athletes inspire you?<\/p>\n
I'm inspired by Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark (the 1996
\nOlympic champion). I think I am kind of like him because I
\nstarted to perform better in the last three years.<\/p>\n
He won the Olympics at the age of 31. He had got married and
\nhad a son. But he still managed to compete in the 2000 Olympics.
\nI want to be like him. I want to continue playing until the 2004
\nOlympics. After that, I will retire.<\/p>\n
You have been the 'backbone' of the country's team over the
\npast three years. What is your comment about the wide gap (in
\nquality) between you and the more junior players?<\/p>\n
I'm really concerned about this wide gap. Sometimes, I try to
\nignore it but I really can't. I spoke to head coach Christian
\nHadinata and asked him to start preparing the youngsters for next
\nyear's Thomas Cup. I want to concentrate more on the open
\ntournaments.<\/p>\n
Other countries like China, South Korea, even Thailand have
\nstarted to give more opportunities to the juniors. I hope my
\njuniors can perform well if they want the Badminton Association
\nof Indonesia (PBSI) to give them a chance to compete abroad.<\/p>\n
Some of the junior players lack discipline, are less
\nmotivated. The life in the Indonesian Badminton Center's
\ndormitory today does not reflect how athletes should live. They
\nprefer to seek the pleasures of youth rather than making the
\nsacrifices needed to become good athletes.<\/p>\n
If they were all as highly talented as Taufik, it wouldn't
\nmatter.<\/p>\n
Another factor is the absence of a clear promotion system. It
\nwould be ideal if new shuttlers admitted to the center are
\nevaluated once a year. If they don't show progress, they should
\nbe replaced by others. That way we can have good talent inside
\nthe center.<\/p>\n
What has happened is that shuttlers stay in the center for two
\nto three years before being either promoted or dismissed and it's
\ntoo long. We are wasting talented players who would prefer to
\nplay overseas.<\/p>\n
Are you friends with Taufik?<\/p>\n
We're just fine. We are competitors on court but friendly off
\ncourt. I hope he can maintain his form and not waste any time in
\ndeveloping his talent. Being an All England finalist at the age
\nof 17 is remarkable.<\/p>\n
I really hope to be able to speak personally with Taufik, I
\nwould ask him to learn from the two-week event. I believe that if
\nhe works hard, he will become a badminton icon.<\/p>\n
Some people say there's competition between your coach Agus
\nDwi Santoso and Mulyo Handoyo (Taufik's coach). Is that true?"<\/p>\n
That's true but it's really good because the shuttlers are
\nthen motivated to show their best.<\/p>\n
You have progressed since you started training with Agus. Is
\nhe a good coach?<\/p>\n
Mas Agus understands his athletes. If I am depressed or too
\nexhausted, he leaves it to me to arrange my own training program.
\nUnfortunately, he applies that to the junior players and I think
\nthat is his weakness. He should be tougher and apply greater
\ndiscipline on them.<\/p>\n
What is the role of your physical trainer Paulus Pasurney, in
\nyour career?<\/p>\n
Om Paulus is more than just a physical trainer to me. He has
\ndesigned good programs for me since 1998 and the result is I am
\nin better condition than many other shuttlers. But more
\nimportantly, he also teaches me the values of life.<\/p>\n
And the role of Andrie Wongso, your 'motivator'?<\/p>\n
If it hadn't been for Pak Andrie, I would have quit badminton
\nat the end of 1997. Luckily I met him early on and he started to
\nmotivate me to work harder and to believe that I would gain
\nsuccess one day. I began to prove his words by helping the
\ncountry's squad win the Thomas Cup in 1998 in Hong Kong.<\/p>\n
The new International Badminton Federation (IBF) president
\nKorn Dabbaransi has said that players migrating to other
\ncountries don't help to develop badminton. What do you think?<\/p>\n
There are always some good and bad sides of it. If players
\nfrom Indonesia and China moved to countries in Africa or Latin
\nAmerica, I think it would help the development of badminton in
\nthe world.<\/p>\n
But if they move to countries like Singapore, Hong Kong,
\nSweden or Chinese Taiwan, it means nothing. Those countries have
\nalways been involved in badminton.<\/p>\n
I also think that it is important to have more badminton
\ncoaches in both Africa and Latin America.<\/p>\n
Only China and Indonesia have dominated badminton in the
\nOlympics and World Championships. Have you ever thought about
\nbadminton losing its popularity?<\/p>\n
I personally prefer a tougher competition with many countries
\nsending their shuttlers in an event. It would be harder but
\nbetter. However, it would take a lot of work to popularize
\nbadminton in many countries. I think the same problem also occur
\nwith table tennis.<\/p>\n
But are we, Indonesians, prepared for the spread of Badminton
\nin other countries? Will the public understand if our players
\nlose to countries outside the badminton powerhouses of China,
\nSouth Korea and Denmark? With the spread of badminton, PBSI must
\nwork harder to determine itself as one of the badminton
\npowerhouses.<\/p>\n
What does your family mean to you?<\/p>\n
Having a family means that I now have greater responsibility.
\nI am lucky that Silvi is willing to support me. During the
\npreparation (for the world championships), I spent most of my
\ntime at the dormitory and she opted to accompany me and left our
\nhouse in Sentul empty. But since I'm going to become a father in
\nthe next four months, I think I must start to give more time to
\nher and our baby.<\/p>\n
Have you decided on a name for the baby?<\/p>\n
Not yet, but the name will surely have something Spanish...
\nha..ha..<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/hendrawan-willing-to-trade-badminton-title-1447893297",
"image": ""
},
"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
"sponsor_url": "https:\/\/okusiassociates.com"
}