Indonesia losing ground in badminton competition
Indonesia losing ground in badminton competition
JAKARTA (JP): A new poll has revealed that Indonesians believe
the nation's badminton charm is on the decline following major
flops in this year's Olympic Games in Atlanta.
Nearly 60 percent of 201 respondents randomly surveyed by the
Jakarta monthly sports magazine Raket last week believed that
Indonesia's disappointing performance in Atlanta augurs a further
setback, although optimism of a revival remains.
The poll results were presented during yesterday's "Preparing
for the 2000 Olympics" discussion, staged by Raket at the Kompas
building in Jl. Palmerah Selatan, Central Jakarta.
Indonesia brought home one gold, one silver and two bronze
medals from Atlanta. This was down from the two golds, two
silvers one bronze achieved by Indonesia in the 1992 Barcelona
Olympics.
The poll found that 43 percent of respondents thought an
insufficient training program and the dependence on veteran
shuttlers was responsible for Indonesia's Olympic setback.
Another 36 percent blamed the Badminton Association of
Indonesia for failing to anticipate the progress made by its
rivals. The remaining respondents said that Indonesian shuttlers
did not have enough preparation.
When asked whether they thought Indonesia had a chance to win
gold in Sydney, 40 percent answered "no", saying that Indonesia
has a dearth of talented shuttlers to fill the shoes of its
current players.
"The current shuttlers are no longer reliable" and "Indonesia
must be aware of other countries" were picked as the second and
the third reasons.
The remaining 60 percent expressed guarded optimism that
Indonesian shuttlers will return home with gold medals in Sydney,
most likely in the men's doubles.
Atlanta Olympics' gold medal-winning team of Ricky Subagja and
Rexy Mainaky top the list of favorites with 58 votes, while the
juniors Tony Gunawan and Rudy Wijaya received 28 votes.
Fewer talented figures were identified in the women's singles,
with 39 respondents choosing Olympic silver medalist Mia Audina
as candidate for the gold medal. Indonesia's number one, Susi
Susanti, received only 18 votes.
Hopes of winning the men's singles crown appear to rest on
Hariyanto Arbi, the reigning world champion who is yet to win a
major title this season. He received 15 votes.
A speaker at the discussion, sociologist Fritz Simanjuntak,
who conducted his own survey, predicted that Hariyanto would meet
China's rising star Sun Jun in the 2000 Olympics men's singles
final. (yan)