Clubs on the hunt for former national players
Clubs on the hunt for former national players
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post/Yogyakarta
Namrih Suroto knows what it means to be sidelined, and the gnawing feeling of "what if?"
Once a promising prospect on the national badminton scene, today he sits in the stands of Amongrogo sports hall, making calls on his mobile phone or cheering on his friends.
He formerly played for prestigious Jaya Raya club, competing with the big names of the sport; today he is thankful to be playing for a club from Papua, a badminton backwater.
As the 30-year-old veteran looks on during the National Mixed Team Championship, two of his former partners, Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto, are competing together in the Korea Open.
Namrih was recruited to the National Badminton Training Center in Cipayung, East Jakarta, in 1993, a year after he teamed with Sigit to become the world junior champions.
"With Candra (Wijaya), I also won the national championship in Medan the same year. With Tony (Gunawan), I don't know. I can't remember anymore how many times I won the tournaments. Tony used to be my regular partner," Namrih told The Jakarta Post.
It was intensely competitive at Cipayung among the men's doubles teams, each of them competing to be the second pairing behind Ricky Subagdja and Rexy Mainaky.
He also suffered a knee injury which took six months to heal. In 1995, bypassed by other players, he was let go, moving on to take positions over the next few years as either player or trainer in Malaysia, the Philippines and Vietnam.
Namrih was set to play for Pemda Jayapura of Papua but he was deemed ineligible, and the team lost three of its four matches.
For Namrih and others who failed to make the top ranks at Cipayung, playing at the club level provides another opportunity to extend their careers.
Mutiara Bandung already has several former national players, including 2002 All England singles finalist Budi Santoso. However, its recruitment of another Cipayung veteran, Enroe, hit a snag when he was deemed to have failed to have registered his club transfer with the badminton authorities.
Sinema Sukabumi, founded in 2003, has signed up doubles specialist Davis Efraim to play alongside twin brothers Donny Prasetyo and Denny Setiawan, both of whom played for Singapore for three years before returning home last year.
Sinema defeated the rest of the teams to top Group D.
Retno Kustiyah, the head of the player ratifying team (TIM KEABSAHAN) with the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI), said violations were occurring amid the head-hunting for former top players.
She estimated about 20 former Cipayung members were now playing at the club level.
"But a player's switch to another club should be accompanied by a letter that mentions that the player has quit their former club," said the executive of Jaya Raya.
Damsik Syamsul Bahri, the owner of Sinema, said the players' presence was expected to motivate young players.
But some clubs still choose to pick up-and-comers from their own area instead of veterans.
"We are not interested in well-established players. It will get in the way of our own groomed players," said Yuli Netra from Hard Rock Hotel Team of Bali.
"As a small club, we don't expect too much from the players. But it's important to give them tournament experience."
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