Icuk plans shake-up of badminton training center

Icuk plans shake-up of badminton training center

Eva C. Komandjaja, Jakarta

National shuttlers, especially those who are not married,
should no longer expect to live outside the national training
center now that Icuk Sugiarto is the center's new director.

Icuk was named on Friday to the new 26-member board of the
country's badminton governing body, the PBSI, under new chairman
Sutiyoso.

Icuk is the PBSI's chief in charge of development affairs. His
tasks includes supervising the national training center in
Cipayung, East Jakarta.

The PBSI hopes to recapture the Thomas Cup and return
Indonesia to its position as the world's preeminent badminton
power, and Icuk is convinced that this can only be accomplished
through uncompromising discipline.

Icuk has put the national shuttlers on warning, saying there
will be consequences for anyone who breaks the center's 9 p.m.
curfew. He also said unmarried shuttlers would be required to
live at the center.

"We will have strict regulations for the shuttlers. They must
learn discipline on and off court.

"If they violate the regulations they will be kicked out of
camp, even if they are famous and the best shuttlers in the
country," the 1983 world champion said.

But Icuk said his new get-tough policy would not come into
effect until after the Athens Olympics, which will run from Aug.
13 to Aug. 29.

Several shuttlers are currently living in private residences
outside of the center, and those who do live in the center
frequently break curfew.

"I am sure these new regulations will spark protests from the
shuttlers because they have enjoyed their freedom for much too
long. These regulations will help them play better in the
future," Icuk said.

One shuttler who may not appreciate these new rules is star
Taufik Hidayat. Something of a celebrity in the country, the
Asian champion Taufik opts to drive to the training camp from his
nearby home.

Icuk also signaled that he would tighten the selection process
for Cipayung, saying fewer athletes would be invited in order to
make the center more prestigious.

There are currently about 130 players at Cipayung but Icuk
refused to say the number of athletes he thought would be ideal
for the center.

"We want to create an image that it is difficult to qualify
for the national camp. That way, when a player is accepted to the
camp he or she will work hard," he said.

While these plans will not come into effect until after the
Olympics, Icuk has already carried out a major shake-up of the
training organization by bringing in new faces on the coaching
staff, although the likes of Indra Gunawan, Hendrawan, Atik
Djauhari, Richard Mainaky and Christian Hadinata are not new to
the Indonesian players given their past connections with the
camp. Christian, for example, is a former training director.

Gone from the coaching staff are Mulyo Handoyo, who was
Taufik's coach, Ivana Lie, Herry IP and Paulus Firman.

"We feel that they (new coaches) will be able to help the
Indonesian shuttlers perform better in international events,"
Icuk said.