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?