Hendrawan willing to trade badminton title

Hendrawan willing to trade badminton title

By Primastuti Handayani

JAKARTA (JP): When he became the new world champion, shuttler
Hendrawan defeated not only Danish Peter Gade Christensen but, in
a sense, those who ever doubted him because he is getting on in
age (he's 29) and he recently married long-time sweetheart Silvia
Anggraeni.

Hendrawan showed his mettle in the World Championship last
Sunday in Seville, Spain, and became the fifth Indonesian to win
the title after Rudy Hartono, Icuk Sugiarto, Joko Suprianto and
Haryanto Arbi.

The world number four shuttler (based on the International
Badminton Federation latest ranking dated June 14), however, does
not think the world title compensates for the feeling of shame
because of his failure to bring home the Sudirman Cup. He lost to
Chen Hong of China in the competition held just one week earlier
also in Seville.

"The journalists (covering the world badminton championship)
were incredulous when I said I wished I could trade the title
with the Sudirman Cup," he told The Jakarta Post in a recent
interview here.

"They accused me of belittling the world title. I was not, the
Indonesian people do, though, because they would have been
prouder if I had brought home the cup."

Excerpts of the interview:

Question: How is life after becoming the world champion?"

Answer: Oh, the same as usual. I consider winning the world
champion title an ordinary thing. Now if I had won the Olympics
gold, perhaps I would have quit badminton because that's my goal.
I think the Olympics is the biggest and most prestigious sports
event.

I had not been pressured to win the world title but the
Sudirman Cup -- because it was a team event and everybody had
expected me to win my game.

You appear to be perturbed by your failure in the Sudirman
Cup.

Of course, I am. I was very disappointed because of the defeat
in the final game. I apologized to the whole team and none of
them blamed me.

But I believe there are still people who question the team's
strategy in fielding me rather than Taufik Hidayat. I did my best
but Chen Hong played an extraordinary match in the final.

Prior to the championship, I was depressed for two days. I did
not play well during my first match against Kazuhiro Shimogami of
Japan.

I wish I could trade my world champion title with the Sudirman
Cup. The trophy means more than my title to the country. The
foreign journalists were shocked when I said in the press
conference that I would trade my title with the cup any time.
They said I was belittling my title.

I wasn't but our people did. They would have been prouder and
happier if I had brought home the Sudirman Cup after 12 years
wait.

Still I believe that in 2003 we can win the Sudirman Cup in
Eindhoven, the Netherlands, especially because it will take place
separately from the World Championships in Birmingham, England.
Hopefully we'd be able to concentrate better on each event.

Did you ever think you would become the world champion?"

No, I didn't. Since leaving Jakarta on May 24, I kept focusing
on the Sudirman Cup. After the Cup's final, I started to think of
the championship matches one by one. When entering the final
match, I began to have this 'winning feeling'. In fact, I was
very surprised at how well I played. It was beyond my
expectations."

How do you feel after beating Gade Christensen?

Peter and I had spoken in the earlier rounds, that it would be
nice if we both could reach the final. And we did. Unfortunately,
only one of us could win. However, Peter is still one of the best
players in the world.

Are you close to Peter?

Well, we only meet in tournaments but we are quite friendly
with one another. When I got married early this year, I sent him
an invitation to the wedding but he could not make it and sent me
a gift instead. He's nice."

As an athlete, you're getting older but you have been
performing even better. Which athletes inspire you?

I'm inspired by Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark (the 1996
Olympic champion). I think I am kind of like him because I
started to perform better in the last three years.

He won the Olympics at the age of 31. He had got married and
had a son. But he still managed to compete in the 2000 Olympics.
I want to be like him. I want to continue playing until the 2004
Olympics. After that, I will retire.

You have been the 'backbone' of the country's team over the
past three years. What is your comment about the wide gap (in
quality) between you and the more junior players?

I'm really concerned about this wide gap. Sometimes, I try to
ignore it but I really can't. I spoke to head coach Christian
Hadinata and asked him to start preparing the youngsters for next
year's Thomas Cup. I want to concentrate more on the open
tournaments.

Other countries like China, South Korea, even Thailand have
started to give more opportunities to the juniors. I hope my
juniors can perform well if they want the Badminton Association
of Indonesia (PBSI) to give them a chance to compete abroad.

Some of the junior players lack discipline, are less
motivated. The life in the Indonesian Badminton Center's
dormitory today does not reflect how athletes should live. They
prefer to seek the pleasures of youth rather than making the
sacrifices needed to become good athletes.

If they were all as highly talented as Taufik, it wouldn't
matter.

Another factor is the absence of a clear promotion system. It
would be ideal if new shuttlers admitted to the center are
evaluated once a year. If they don't show progress, they should
be replaced by others. That way we can have good talent inside
the center.

What has happened is that shuttlers stay in the center for two
to three years before being either promoted or dismissed and it's
too long. We are wasting talented players who would prefer to
play overseas.

Are you friends with Taufik?

We're just fine. We are competitors on court but friendly off
court. I hope he can maintain his form and not waste any time in
developing his talent. Being an All England finalist at the age
of 17 is remarkable.

I really hope to be able to speak personally with Taufik, I
would ask him to learn from the two-week event. I believe that if
he works hard, he will become a badminton icon.

Some people say there's competition between your coach Agus
Dwi Santoso and Mulyo Handoyo (Taufik's coach). Is that true?"

That's true but it's really good because the shuttlers are
then motivated to show their best.

You have progressed since you started training with Agus. Is
he a good coach?

Mas Agus understands his athletes. If I am depressed or too
exhausted, he leaves it to me to arrange my own training program.
Unfortunately, he applies that to the junior players and I think
that is his weakness. He should be tougher and apply greater
discipline on them.

What is the role of your physical trainer Paulus Pasurney, in
your career?

Om Paulus is more than just a physical trainer to me. He has
designed good programs for me since 1998 and the result is I am
in better condition than many other shuttlers. But more
importantly, he also teaches me the values of life.

And the role of Andrie Wongso, your 'motivator'?

If it hadn't been for Pak Andrie, I would have quit badminton
at the end of 1997. Luckily I met him early on and he started to
motivate me to work harder and to believe that I would gain
success one day. I began to prove his words by helping the
country's squad win the Thomas Cup in 1998 in Hong Kong.

The new International Badminton Federation (IBF) president
Korn Dabbaransi has said that players migrating to other
countries don't help to develop badminton. What do you think?

There are always some good and bad sides of it. If players
from Indonesia and China moved to countries in Africa or Latin
America, I think it would help the development of badminton in
the world.

But if they move to countries like Singapore, Hong Kong,
Sweden or Chinese Taiwan, it means nothing. Those countries have
always been involved in badminton.

I also think that it is important to have more badminton
coaches in both Africa and Latin America.

Only China and Indonesia have dominated badminton in the
Olympics and World Championships. Have you ever thought about
badminton losing its popularity?

I personally prefer a tougher competition with many countries
sending their shuttlers in an event. It would be harder but
better. However, it would take a lot of work to popularize
badminton in many countries. I think the same problem also occur
with table tennis.

But are we, Indonesians, prepared for the spread of Badminton
in other countries? Will the public understand if our players
lose to countries outside the badminton powerhouses of China,
South Korea and Denmark? With the spread of badminton, PBSI must
work harder to determine itself as one of the badminton
powerhouses.

What does your family mean to you?

Having a family means that I now have greater responsibility.
I am lucky that Silvi is willing to support me. During the
preparation (for the world championships), I spent most of my
time at the dormitory and she opted to accompany me and left our
house in Sentul empty. But since I'm going to become a father in
the next four months, I think I must start to give more time to
her and our baby.

Have you decided on a name for the baby?

Not yet, but the name will surely have something Spanish...
ha..ha..