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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