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..