Christian hopes to find new talent at junior badminton meet

Christian hopes to find new talent at junior badminton meet

JAKARTA (JP): The training director of the Indonesian
Badminton Center, Christian Hadinata, is hopeful the first Milo
Junior Indonesia Open next month will produce new stars who will
lead Indonesia to future badminton glory.

"I hope the championships will result in our continued
domination in the men's singles and doubles. Therefore, there
will not be a wide gap between the senior and junior players," he
said Friday on the sidelines of the memorandum of understanding
signing ceremony. Signing the memorandum were the event's main
sponsor, Milo, and event organizer PT Gematama Kreasindo, which
has been appointed by the Badminton Association of Indonesia
(PBSI) to stage the event.

"We also hope to find some new talent in women's singles and
doubles. This is necessary so PBSI will not suffer a lack of
players in these two disciplines."

The championships will be held at Manahan Hall and Bhinneka
Hall in Surakarta, Central Java, from June 12 to June 16. The
tournament will feature boys' singles, girls' singles, boys'
doubles, girls' doubles and mixed doubles events.

Seven countries -- Malaysia, Hong Kong, Chinese Taipei,
Thailand, Russia, Canada and host Indonesia -- have confirmed
their participation.

The chairwoman of the event organizer, Minarni Soedarjanto,
said she expected about 10 countries would compete in the event.

"We have sent invitations to 25 International Badminton
Federation (IBF) members. We also hope that badminton powerhouses
China and Denmark will send players to the event," said Minarni,
who received a surprise birthday cake during the event.

The tournament, which is included on the IBF calendar, will
offer US$9,000 in prize money.

"The tournament will be a perfect place for our juniors to
test their skills against players from other countries. Due to
the weakening of the rupiah against the U.S. dollar, it is very
difficult for PBSI to send them abroad for tournaments," Minarni,
a badminton star in the 1960s, said.

Muhammed Hamza, the vice president of beverages at PT Nestle
Indonesia, the producer of Milo, said Milo was committed to a
long-term sponsorship of the event.

"However, the support will be based on our evaluation of the
first tournament. We hope to support badminton, as Indonesia's
most popular sport, for the long term."

PT Nestle Indonesia president director Salvador Pigem said he
hoped the Milo Junior Indonesia Open "would extend the glory of
Indonesian shuttlers in various events in the future".

The championships will be the first international junior event
to take place in Indonesia since the economic crisis hit the
country four years ago.

Some of Indonesia's top shuttlers first gained prominence in
international junior events. They include 1992 Olympic women's
singles champion Susy Susanti, 1992 Olympic men's singles gold
medalist Alan Budikusuma, 1993 World Champion Hariyanto Arbi and
1997 men's doubles World Champions Sigit Budiarto and Candra
Wijaya.

China's Tan Ju Hong and Huang Hua, and Denmark's Camilla
Martin and Peter Gade Christensen also cut their teeth in
international junior events. (yan)