Mulyo helps push Taufik to glory<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
National coach Mulyo Handoyo has the recipe for success with
\ntemperamental shuttler Taufik Hidayat, and it led to Olympic
\nglory.<\/p>\n
Taufik, whose on-court and off-court tantrums and criticism of
\nthe country's badminton governing body PBSI, have many times put
\nhim on the outs with the association's officials as well as fans,
\nhas often been criticized for underachieving despite his immense
\ntalent.<\/p>\n
His mediocre play was put down to an allegation that Taufik
\nwas going out clubbing too much.<\/p>\n
But Mulyo sees it differently. \"Many people have judged Taufik
\nand accused him of having poor discipline. That is not true. He
\ncan be disciplined when he is training with me,\" Mulyo said in
\ndefense of his player.<\/p>\n
\"Every player has a different character and I think it depends
\non how the coach handles the player,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Mulyo said that he let Taufik, who drives himself to the
\ntraining center from his nearby residence, to arrange his own
\ntraining schedule and gave the player the freedom to choose where
\nhe lives while working out at the national training center in
\nCipayung, East Jakarta.<\/p>\n
\"When other shuttlers start their training sessions at 8 a.m.
\nevery morning, I allow Taufik to start a half an hour later
\nbecause it suits him.<\/p>\n
\"I don't care about how early or how late we start the
\ntraining session. As long as he is serious, Taufik will do well.
\nIt's the quality that counts, not the quantity,\" said Mulyo, who
\nhas coached Taufik off and on since 1997.<\/p>\n
His coaching style has molded Taufik into one of the world's
\nbest shuttlers, but the most important thing is that his
\nunderstanding and patience seems to set him apart from other
\ncoaches, at least in the eyes of Taufik.<\/p>\n
Two years ago, Taufik threatened to abandon the national team
\nand play for Singapore, after falling out with the governing body
\nPBSI, over the exclusion of Mulyo from the national center. Mulyo
\nsubsequently signed on to coach the Singaporean team and Taufik
\nfollowed him.<\/p>\n
Taufik carried out his threat, but his partnership with Mulyo
\nlasted only two months before the player returned home on a
\npromise by PBSI that Mulyo would also be called home later.<\/p>\n
In February 2004, Mulyo returned to Indonesia to reunite with
\nTaufik and it proved to be a successful partnership, as six
\nmonths later, Taufik was crowned the Olympic Champion in Athens.<\/p>\n
Born on March 6, 1960 in Pati, a small town in Central Java,
\nMulyo began his career in badminton as a shuttler, but he never
\nmade it past the provincial stages in most local badminton
\ntournaments.<\/p>\n
\"I always used to lose to Icuk (Sugiarto) back then,\" he
\nrecalled, referring to Indonesia's 1983 world champion.<\/p>\n
While not overly successful as a player, Mulyo decided to
\nstart coaching at the Djarum Kudus badminton club in 1982. The
\nclub is renowned for producing great players.<\/p>\n
\"I like coaching, because I like to teach people, especially
\nyoung shuttlers,\" Mulyo said.<\/p>\n
In 1995, he was hired to coach at the national training center
\nand assigned to work with a group of young shuttlers, including
\none young, talented teen by the name of Taufik Hidayat.<\/p>\n
\"Taufik had the lowest ranking among his peers and I was
\nassigned to coach him,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Also under Mulyo's tutelage were Agus Hariyanto and Ronald
\nSusilo. They are both playing for different countries now.<\/p>\n
Agus is playing for Hong Kong, Ronald for Singapore. The
\nlatter put in a stunning performance in Athens by knocking out
\ntop seed Lin Dan of China in the early rounds.<\/p>\n
When Taufik was promoted to the senior level, Mulyo remained
\nas his personal trainer with former national shuttler Joko
\nSupriyanto his assistant.<\/p>\n
Mulyo's tenure at Cipayung came to an abrupt end in 2001 when
\nthe Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) decided not to extend
\nhis contract as a coach of the national team due to a dispute
\nwith other coaches over contract fees.<\/p>\n
Mulyo then applied for a coaching job in Singapore and worked
\nthere for two years before Taufik and PBSI asked him to return.<\/p>\n
\"Taufik asked me to return to Indonesia for him. I questioned
\nhis seriousness and he promised he would work hard, so I decided
\nto return to Cipayung,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Mulyo admitted that his economic situation was better in
\nSingapore, but he also realized that it was more difficult to
\nproduce world-class players in Singapore, because their was not
\nas much top quality talent as there is in Indonesia.<\/p>\n
\"But I never thought about money. I was motivated by the
\ndesire to coach Taufik,\" he said.<\/p>\n
After helping the player gain his recent Olympic success,
\nMulyo's next challenge will be motivating Taufik to win the All
\nEngland tournament and the World Championship.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/mulyo-helps-push-taufik-to-glory-1447893297",
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