Burman's silver a boost for RI squash

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Squash player Burman Subroto's unexpected silver medal in men's singles at the 23rd Southeast Asian (SEA) Games earned him a reward on Monday.

Indonesian Squash Association (PSI) chairman Syarif Bastaman congratulated Burman by promising him a new motorbike.

He said the medal -- the country's best ever showing in squash -- would lead to growing recognition of Indonesia in the sport in Southeast Asia, including by dominant Malaysia.

"Before the SEA Games, our players were considered among lower level squash players. Now, other countries like Malaysia must think that we are a new force in squash," he said.

Burman, 22, upset Malaysian top seed Timothy Arnold in the SEA Games semifinals in five games, but lost to another Malaysian Nafizwan Adnan in the final last week.

He will compete in the Asian Squash Championships in Vietnam in February.

The men's singles field was depleted due to the concurrent holding of the World Championships in Hong Kong. Malaysian number one Ong Beng Hee, who is ranked 12th in the world, opted to compete in Hong Kong. Arnold, ranked 135 in the world who trains in England, and Nafizwan (202) had never won an international title.

PSI set a target of one silver at the Games in the Philippines, where squash made its return after it was left off the roster in Vietnam in 2003.

Indonesia won two bronze in 2001 in women's singles and the women's team event, but no team competition was held in Manila.

Malaysia has swept all the gold medals on offer since the 1997 Games in Jakarta.

Syarif discussed the need to popularize the sport earlier this year. Squash is still considered an elite, expensive sport and there are few courts outside of Jakarta.

He said in June he would order PSI's 14 chapters to embark on a program to build more courts and introduce coaching programs in schools.

There are an estimated 300 squash players nationwide.