Can RI badminton reclaim its lost pride?

Can RI badminton reclaim its lost pride?

Primastuti Handayani, Staff Writer, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) elected its new
chairman last weekend. Businessman Chairul Tanjung, owner of Bank
Mega, defeated Justian Suhandinata, a well known figure in
badminton world, in a one-sided contest, 252 votes to 13.

The result revealed two things. On the one hand, those in the
nation's badminton circles are clearly no longer dependent on the
Army, as they had been after Gen. (ret.) Try Sutrisno took over
as chairman in 1989. On the other hand, the figure of Chairul
demonstrates an ongoing dependence on money.

The question now is, will Chairul be able to lead PBSI
effectively, given that he has no record of involvement in the
sport? Can he meet the demands of badminton lovers to retain the
Thomas Cup at next year's finals in Guangzhou, China?

The answers depend on Chairul.

First, he must set up a solid team to overcome the existing
problems within the association. Picking "old players" to join
the organization will cause problems down the track as some tend
to take advantage of their positions to benefit their own clubs
or chapters.

Some officials under the previous tenure of Gen. (ret.)
Subagyo Hadisiswoyo remained attached to their chapters.

Their conflict of interest becomes crystal clear whenever the
Association has to select shutters for the Grand Prix series
tournaments and other major events such as the World
Championships, the Sudirman Cup, the Thomas and Uber Cup and the
Olympics. Personal likes and dislikes have played a more
important role in the selection process than the players' records
of achievement.

Chairul must urge his officials to set their interests aside
for the sake of the country's badminton development.

Second, he must set up a better and stronger foundation for
developing the sport, which has been the country's only source of
Olympic gold medals.

Chairul must optimize the role of the training center
director, allowing him to become professional and independent by
giving him full authority in hiring coaches, talent scouting and
the selection of players for tournaments.

PBSI must continue the system of annual contracts, from
directors to coaches. If they fail to perform, PBSI then has the
authority to replace them with better candidates.

Chairul, who has promised to seek "foster parents" for PBSI's
training centers in the provinces, should increase the number of
domestic tournaments.

Third, Chairul's background as a businessman has given hope to
athletes, coaches and others in the badminton world that he will
bring in some much needed cash.

He must review the collective contract system between PBSI and
Japan-based sports equipment firm Yonex, which, according to
national athletes, has prevented them from securing other
sponsors.

With such international caliber figures as world champion
Hendrawan and Olympic champion Candra Wijaya, PBSI should have
been able to collect more than the US$1.1 million in annual
sponsorships so far provided by Yonex.

Both Hendrawan and Candra, along with other senior shuttlers,
had floated the possibility of individual sponsorship but their
idea was turned down by PBSI officials.

The current collective contract system has indeed helped the
juniors to secure increased funding. Unfortunately, it has
spoiled them as they have become satisfied with their
achievements so far. In contrast, the seniors, who have given
their all, have become dissatisfied with a system that forces
them to cross subsidize their junior colleagues.

Another clause of the contract -- that additional collective
sponsorship deals must reach $300,000 annually -- has led other
companies to opt for "off-air" individual sponsorships with
selected players. This means shuttlers are not allowed to display
the sponsor's logo on their clothing while competing.

The inability of previous officials to overcome the above
three problems has cost Indonesia a great deal. It is losing
potential winners, including former world number one men's
doubles pairing Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian, world champion Tony
Gunawan and controversial young star Taufik Hidayat, who is
currently the world's number three ranked player.

Citing a desire for greater professionalism, some players have
preferred to play for other countries, due to their
dissatisfaction with what they see as the prevailing personality
politics.

With less than seven months left to gear up for the Thomas and
Uber Cup, Chairul must work hard, hand-in-hand with his new
officials to defend the most prestigious men's team crown.

The new scoring system of the best-of-five-games in seven
points will pose problems for defending champion Indonesia.

Even Hendrawan himself has urged PBSI to re-call Taufik to
join the Thomas Cup team. The new system, which benefits speed-
and-power shuttlers, will give an advantage to host China. China
-- which has collected the Uber and Sudirman Cups in the past --
has erected a banner in its training center saying "We must work
hard as the Thomas Cup is still in Indonesia".

But the association will have to swallow its pride if it is to
embrace Taufik and other juniors including Ardiansyah and Sony
Dwi Kuncoro and satisfy Indonesian badminton lovers' key demand:
Keep the Thomas Cup here.