Badminton has more problems than titles

Badminton has more problems than titles

By Primastuti Handayani

JAKARTA (JP): Will Indonesia still be prominent in the
badminton world in 2001? The answer is, possibly no. The fact
that Indonesia only managed to bring home one gold from three
finals at the Sydney Olympics indicates that the Badminton
Association of Indonesia (PBSI) must work harder to improve its
performance in the future.

Compared to China which won four golds, the performance of
Indonesian shuttlers was far from satisfying.

Indonesia could only win one gold in the Olympics thanks to an
outstanding performance from Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan. They
had gone through months of tough preparation, struggling with the
psychological pressure of being the country's sole hope.

The country also took silver in the men's singles and mixed
doubles. But Hendrawan, and Tri Kusharjanto and Minarti Timur
fell short of opportunities to repeat their compatriots' ability
to bring home gold.

Despite its "success" of winning an Olympic gold medal,
Indonesia's male shuttlers also managed to retain the Thomas Cup
for 12th time, its fourth consecutive victory in the event.

Unfortunately, the performance of Indonesia's female shuttlers
showed a stark contrast to that of the men. This year none of the
Indonesian female shuttlers managed to win a title in the Grand
Prix series.

For the first time in history the female shuttlers also failed
to reach the final of the Uber Cup, after losing to Denmark in
the semifinals.

The situation was worsened by PBSI's "immature" reaction to
criticism from young shuttler Taufik Hidayat, who disparaged the
performance of PBSI officials and the late payment of contract
monies from the association's sole sponsor Yonex.

Taufik even called for PBSI chairman Subagyo Hadisiswoyo to
step down from his post. Because of his criticism, Taufik is now
banned from two tournaments: the Korean Open in January and the
Grand Prix Finals in March.

Consistent

In the Grand Prix series, including the Olympics, Indonesian
men's doubles have shown consistency by winning six titles.

Candra and Tony collected four titles: the Taipei Open, Japan
Open, Indonesian Open and the Olympic gold medal. They were
followed by teammates Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian who won the
Malaysian Open and Danish Open.

With high ranking on the International Badminton Federation
(IBF) list, Flandy and Eng Hian are expected to become the
country's second best team after Candra and Tony.

Teammates Halim Heryanto and Sigit Budiarto are the third
combination supporting the country's domination in the event.

In singles competition, Taufik has performed quite well. He
reached the All England final for the second consecutive year.
Unfortunately, he lost to the eventual winner Xia Xuanze. Taufik
won the Indonesian Open, Malaysian Open and the Asian Badminton
Championships. He also helped the national squad win the Thomas
Cup.

Senior player Hendrawan also showed satisfying form by winning
the Thailand Open and taking the silver medal at the Olympics,
losing to Ji Xinpeng of China.

However, none of the juniors being groomed at the Indonesian
Badminton Center in Cipayung, East Jakarta, have managed to
narrow the gap separating them from the seniors.

Youngsters, including Johan Hadikusuma, Ronny Agustinus and
Sonny Dwi Kuncoro -- who managed to reach the Asian Junior
Championship and the World Junior Championship finals -- must now
prepare to replace their seniors. They should provide the
backbone for next year's Southeast Asian (SEA) Games.

PBSI made a great decision in 1999 by sending young players to
the biennial event, who managed to bring home five golds.

The situation is much worse in the women's division. They
failed to win any Grand Prix series tournaments this year. They
also failed to reach the final of the Uber Cup match after losing
to Denmark in the semifinals.

PBSI must change its policy and dare itself to recruit younger
players starting at the age of 13. The youngsters will not
necessarily be winners of national circuits, but it is more
important to develop their talent, as well as their physical and
psychological strength.

Former PBSI official, Lutfi Hamid, said Mia Audina, who is now
playing for the Netherlands, and Taufik are two examples of
athletes who were recruited because of their high degree of
talent.

"They were not champions on the national circuit, but they
showed their great talents. It's PBSI's job to polish the talent
and make them great players."

The body must also adopt strict criteria when recruiting
players, assessing height, the psychological condition of
athletes, their family backgrounds and intelligence.

PBSI has so far only supervised the results of its national
circuit tournaments, and abandoned talented players. Many young
shuttlers have gone to other countries, including Ronald Susilo
of Jaya Raya club who plays for Singapore and Agus Hariyanto who
is now representing Hong Kong.

The PBSI official in charge of talent scouting, Icuk Sugiarto,
said the monopoly of power in Subagyo's hands made him unable to
determine which players would be recruited to the center.

"Sometimes, the names on my list are dropped and changed with
players I have never seen before. It's because of the pressure
from big clubs and PBSI top provincial chapters."

Sponsorships

Despite the poor recruitment system, national shuttlers have
been under the spotlight, especially after they demanded PBSI to
allow them to seek co-sponsors.

Taufik initiated the call by saying that shuttlers always
received the Yonex contract payment late from PBSI. Soon after,
Candra and Tony urged PBSI to allow them to seek individual
sponsors.

But PBSI declined the request, saying that elite shuttlers
must consider the development of juniors.

The shuttlers have agreed to share their income with PBSI to
help continue grooming the juniors, but the body insisted that
the ongoing collective system remains the best and only allowed
them to seek off-court sponsors.

In the memorandum of understanding between PBSI and Yonex, it
is stated that PBSI can seek co-sponsorships with a total revenue
of US$300,000 per year, for terms of three years.

Yonex itself gives $1 million per year.

Taufik, once again, started the trend of obtaining off-court
sponsorship, from a Japanese electronics producer. However, he
expressed disappointment after 50 percent of his contract payment
was retained by PBSI, in the name of development.

Candra followed Taufik's path by advertising the latest model
of mobile phone made by a South Korean electronics giant.

By possessing Olympic medalists and world-class shuttlers,
PBSI are able to "sell the athletes" instead of waiting for
companies to come and make them offers.

The National Sports Council (KONI) head of sports business and
industry commission, Fritz E. Simandjuntak, has criticized PBSI
saying that the deal with Yonex is unfair.

"Athletes don't belong to PBSI. They belong to clubs,
therefore the contract must be signed between clubs and sponsors.
Athletes must have a contract with the clubs. By having this
system, clubs will compete to gain more sponsorship for the
players. It also means clubs can be richer and will be able to
groom more younger players. PBSI should only receive a commission
from each contract."

Fritz also suggested that PBSI serve as a manager for athletes
negotiating sponsorships.

If PBSI does not redress its performance, many people are
worried that Indonesian shuttlers will run to other countries,
which offer better salaries and lifestyles.

If that happens, PBSI cannot accuse them of being unpatriotic,
as badminton is their only means of survival. When that time
comes, PBSI will only have left-over players who must face their
former seniors, representing other countries. Do we really want
that to happen?