Indonesian squash dreams for the world

Indonesian squash dreams for the world

Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Ask someone about squash and the probability of him or her
knowing about the sport would be very small. Unlike tennis, taken
as a comparative example, squash has yet to reach, say, the level
of regencies. Even at a provincial level, people do not know much
about the sport.

Although squash is believed to have been first introduced to
Indonesia as early as the 1940s, tournaments were not organized
here until the 1980s. Squash events were not formally organized
until after 1993, when the Indonesia Squash Association (PSI) was
established.

"We are still very young and little can be done in the space
of just eight years," Johanes Karsan, PSI's executive director,
told The Jakarta Post here on Saturday while attending the
Bastaman & Partners Open Squash Championship.

Still a fledgling association, PSI has branches in only 13 of
Indonesia's 32 provinces and less than 2,000 players.

In an attempt to promote the sport nationwide, PSI admits to
being impeded by the image that squash is an elite sport only
enjoyed in exclusive hotels.

Squash centers are still scarce and taking it up as routine
exercise for a certain segment of society would certainly prove
too expensive.

Not yet being very popular, the development of squash has
subsequently suffered due to the fact that business entities only
provide limited sponsorship opportunities.

Players have yet to be provided with the certainty of being
able to earn a living from playing squash, though they are
confident about the prospect.

"I'm still doubtful that people will play squash at the moment
for a living, but I'm confident about the future, provided that
PSI is serious in handling the business," Nuryanto, Indonesia's
number one player, said.

PSI seems to do everything itself and the government appears
to show little interest.

"It's a different case when we talk about our neighbor
Malaysia. With full support from the government by building many
centers, squash has reached the international level and is no
comparison for Indonesia," says Bambang Gatot Subroto, PSI's
official in charge of development.

With all the shortcomings, which must be a daunting task to
overcome, PSI dreams of cracking into the international arena.

"We are vying for the world championships," Karsan said, his
voice low but expressing determination.

"We might need ten years," he said when asked about the period
they would require to realize the dream.

"We possess potential. Look, squash is in nature not impeded
by the physical build of the players. In basketball, don't ever
dream of challenging the Dream Team, because we have physical
differences that basketball does not tolerate," he said.

"We just need to train for agility, speed and toughness. And
that can be polished through scores of high-standard
tournaments," he said.

Karsan said that PSI would strive to tackle those obstacles
and equip themselves with a thoroughly considered plan to send
promising athletes abroad through a sponsorship program.

"PSI looks to be struggling in promoting squash. We lend it a
helping hand by giving the players an opportunity to improve
their skills," Syarif Bastaman, from legal firm Bastaman &
Partners, said.

At home, PSI plans to hold six tournaments in 2002. Despite
being far from an ideal number of events, it will be an
improvement on the four tournaments held this year.