Badminton coach denies he quit over salary spat

JAKARTA (JP): National badminton men's singles coach Indra Gunawan said yesterday there was no truth to media speculation over the reason for his resignation.

"I did not resign because my salary was less than physical trainer Paulus Passurney. The news is not true," Indra told reporters yesterday.

Several media reports earlier this week said Indra resigned from the National Badminton Center in Cipayung, East Jakarta, due to unhappiness over his salary.

"Frankly, I earned Rp 2 million (US$133.3) (monthly) as a coach and I still earn, more or less, Rp 4 million each month from the Indonesian Badminton Association's main sponsor Yonex. While Pak Paulus earned less," he said.

Paulus, who also trains the national men's tennis squad, earned Rp 3 million. He helped the association prepare the athletes for the Thomas and Uber cups in May.

Indra also denied rumors he would go abroad to coach.

"I also read in the papers that I will coach abroad. They mentioned different countries like Chinese Taipei, Australia, Malaysia and the Netherlands. That's not true. I'm not going anywhere. I will work as a manager of the Wira badminton stadium in the Greenville housing complex in West Jakarta."

Indra served as a national coach for 13 years and guided the country's Thomas Cup squad in seven competitions, three of which brought victories to Indonesia.

Indra said he had told the center director's, Christian Hadinata, about his plan to resign a day before the Thomas Cup team fought and won the event's final in Hong Kong in May. But for some reason his plan was not communicated to the association's directors.

"I was called by the association's executive director because he thought I was undisciplined. I have no idea of resignation procedures so I apologized for my carelessness."

Indra said he was weary of his routine as a coach. He also said that he could not concentrate on coaching any more but he did not elaborate. He said he felt unable to find new methods in coaching men's singles, after a decrease in the men's singles international achievements.

"It's time for younger coaches to take over my job. Hopefully, they can coach the shuttlers in an innovative and variative way."

Indra wanted to leave the center after the 1996 Centennial Olympics but another coach, Tong Sin Fu, resigned at the time because he planned to return to his homeland in China.

"I couldn't leave the shuttlers without any coaches. But things are very different now. We have two young coaches and another two are being groomed."

Mulyo Handoyo and Agus Dwi Santoso will take over immediately from Indra, and Joko Suprianto and Alan Budikusuma are being groomed as coaches of the future.

Indra said Indonesia would still have a chance to win golds in the 13th Asian Games with a condition that the men's doubles must be solid.

"Our men's singles has not been very good recently. In the latest International Badminton Federation ranking Wednesday, only Hendrawan and Hariyanto Arbi are included. And they're not in the top five," he said.

Coaches and officials must start thinking about the strategy to win golds in the Asiad.

"Our young coaches must be able to handle the shuttlers, some of whom are very spoiled, and boost their motivation in reaching better achievements in international events." (yan)