Joko Suprianto has every reason to be anxious about his future.
By Lela E. Madjiah
JAKARTA (JP): When a person is on top of the world, it is easy to believe that he has nothing to worry about.
But the world's top ranked badminton player Joko Suprianto has every reason to be anxious about his future.
"Once you're out of the game, you enter a completely different world. No one to serve you and make sure you have everything. You have to manage on your own," he said.
It's not that he's complaining.
"I'm very much aware that our country is still developing and sports is not yet a priority," he said. "We cannot ask for too much."
It's for that reason that Joko is planning to remain active in the sport for no more than another three years, given also his age. He will be 28 on Nov. 6 and many believe this is the prime of his career although he failed to win a singles title in his last three grand prix events in Taipei, Japan and Korea.
He has already started preparing for the day when he can no longer rely on badminton to make a living. The major constraint is the fact that as a world-class player he has to devote all his time to the sport and has no time left to pursue other interests.
"In the coming year or two I will start looking at other things, to build contacts to prepare for my post-badminton career," he said.
Joko refused to elaborate on his plan, only saying that he hopes to benefit from his international reputation. He also said he may become a coach.
"But if I do, I will only work part-time job because coaches here fare even worse than players, although things have also improved a lot for them," he explained.
Coaches, he said, have not been able to ride on the coattails of their players' financial successes. When a player wins a major tournament and the handsome cash prize that goes along with it, the coach receives only a small percentage of the winnings, he said.
Despite his apprehension, which is shared by most of Indonesia's other athletes, Joko noted many improvements, both in the training programs and in the welfare of the players.
"The regional training centers are very effective in spotting new talents and helping with their training," he said.
Blessings
Joko considers his parents and coach to be most responsible for guiding him to stardom. His parents also were the ones who gave him their blessings in 1983 to move here from Surakarta, Central Java, where he had been playing badminton since the tender age of eight.
It was during his first year of high school that he came here to join the Bimantara Tangkas club. After waiting for a month, he received a response to his request to join the club. Bimantara Tangkas also gave its assurances that it would finance his studies up to the university level and Joko managed to finish high school at Budi Siswa in Kemayoran, Central Jakarta, in 1986.
"I was an average student because I had to divide my attention between studying and training," he explained.
Joko garnered his first title in 1979 when he won the Munadi Cup championship for beginners aged 13 and under in Semarang, Central Java.
"I was very proud because I used my own money to take part in the tournament," said Joko.
"My father gave me some money every time I beat him and I saved that money," he said, beaming.
It was his father who encouraged him to take up the sport since he operated his own badminton club in his hometown. The club's members were mostly the family's neighbors and relatives.
"I became addicted to the game," said Joko, one of five siblings who all had badminton training.
He considers his father his first coach, although self- discipline was the lesson he learned most from him.
"I had to be on time, had to take an afternoon nap, things like that," Joko recalled.
After years of living as a "perennial runner-up", Joko shed his bridesmaid image by winning the Swiss Open in 1991 over countryman and teammate, Haryanto Arbi.
His winning ways continued until an upset loss to compatriot Ardy Wiranata in the finals of the Indonesia Open later the same year.
Joko shot to prominence when he took his first major international title in February of last year by winning the Korea Open, the third leg of the Grand Prix circuit.
He bagged his second major title last June by beating compatriot Hermawan Susanto 15-5 and 15-11 in a memorable all- Indonesian final at the World Cup championship in Birmingham.
Joko's winning streak continued at the Thailand Open in November, once again at the expense of Hermawan whom he whipped in the final.
Thomas Cup
With the Thomas Cup finals on the threshold, Joko has a great deal of confidence in the Indonesian team.
"We are a strong team, not only in the singles but also in the doubles. We also have strong team spirit, which I believe is an important factor in our earnest bid to regain the coveted trophy," he said.
He even rated the current Indonesian Thomas Cup team as the strongest ever.
"Previously, the doubles players relied on the singles players to snatch the all important winning points. Not this time. This time they also have great faith in their ability to contribute to the team," he said.
Despite this confidence, Joko cautioned against complacency and rated Denmark and defending champion Malaysia as the teams which lurk dangerously in Indonesia's path toward recapturing the cup it has won a record eight times, including four times in a row.
"We have to be very careful against them. And although China is no longer considered a strong team, we cannot take beating the once mighty Chinese for granted," he said. Joko added that Indonesia should keep a close watch on Malaysian ace Rashid Sidek and Denmark's Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen and Thomas Stuer Lauridsen in the singles and the Danish doubles pair of Thomas Lund and Jon Holst-Christiansen.
He is also convinced that the notorious Jakarta audience has changed.
"I've noticed that they have become friendlier towards us. Maybe because we have such a good record, it seems like now they cheer us on no matter how we perform," he said. "In the past they only cheered us when we played well, but in a matter of minutes the cheers turned to jeers when the chips were down," he said, describing how fickle the hometown badminton fans were.
Joko has often come under fire from his critics for what they call his lack of consistency. They say he is the kind of player who plays brilliantly one day but flops the next. But Joko insists that now he has matured, thanks to all the criticism.
"I have changed in the past two years. I took all the criticism and tried to improve myself. Now I believe in persistency, in fighting to the end, because even if I lose a match, I don't lose my dignity," said Joko.