Student badminton tournaments launched<\/p>\n
Imanuddin, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta<\/p>\n
Acknowledging the tight international competition and the
\navailability of Indonesian world class shuttlers, the Badminton
\nAssociation of Indonesia (PBSI) in cooperation with the Ministry
\nof National Education will launch a regular competition for
\nelementary, junior and senior high school students starting in
\nJanuary.<\/p>\n
In the first phase, the competition will be held in regencies
\nand mayoralties in six Java provinces -- Jakarta, Banten, West
\nJava, Central Java, Yogyakarta and East Java -- and two non-Java
\nprovinces -- North Sumatra and South Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
\"Hopefully, the regular competitions will be held in all the
\ncountry's regencies and mayoralties by 2004,\" PBSI chairman
\nChairul Tanjung told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar to
\nintroduce the launching of the competition at the Wisma Karsa
\nPemuda building in Central Jakarta on Friday.<\/p>\n
Tanjung said the regular competition for the school students
\nwas meant not only as a medium for scouting new talent, but also
\nas a forum to disseminate badminton development to regions
\noutside Java.<\/p>\n
\"Currently, most of the country's top players have always come
\nfrom the same clubs or provinces in Java. Through this program,
\nwe hope we can get promising players from eastern and western
\nIndonesia's regions,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Earlier, Director-general for Sports at the ministry of
\nnational education Toho Chalik Mutohir said that in an attempt to
\nsustain the country's world class badminton standing, there
\nshould be immediate talent-scouting and supervision of
\nprospective shuttlers from an early age.<\/p>\n
\"If it (the talent-scouting and supervision of prospective
\nplayers) is not begun early, there will be a limited population
\nof Indonesian world class badminton players,\" Mutohir said while
\naddressing the opening of the seminar.<\/p>\n
\"It's now difficult to find a female badminton player of the
\nsame caliber of Ibu Minarni,\" he said, referring to Minarni
\nSudaryanto, one of the country's best players, who won the 1968
\nAll-England Badminton championship's women's doubles along with
\nRetno Kustiyah.<\/p>\n
While the men's team has been dominating in the last five
\nThomas Cup, the world badminton tournament for men; the country's
\nwomen's team has not won the Uber Cup female badminton tournament
\nsince 1996.<\/p>\n
Mutohir, however, suggested that the talent-scouting and
\nsupervision for prospective players should not be based on rigid
\nbadminton regulations and standards of measurement.<\/p>\n
\"In an effort to attract the interest of young children to
\nplay badminton, there must be a 'modified badminton' introduced
\nto them,\" he said.<\/p>\n
\"PBSI, as the organizer of the competition for the school
\nstudents, should not rigidly require the adult-sized racket and
\nactual size of courts be used in the (elementary school)
\nstudents' competition,\" he explained, while citing that it would
\nbe difficult for an eight-year old child to play with an adult-
\nsized racket.<\/p>",
"url": "https:\/\/jawawa.id\/newsitem\/student-badminton-tournaments-launched-1447893297",
"image": ""
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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