Mia says marriage will make her life steady

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's top female badminton player, Mia Audina, believes her planned marriage to her boyfriend this year will create stability in her life, ending the turbulent ups and downs she has experienced in her career and her life.

"Married people usually live peacefully and I hope that all the gossip about my relationship with my boyfriend will die down once we marry," Mia said after a practice session at the National Badminton Center in Cipayung, East Jakarta, on Wednesday.

However, Mia, who turns 29 on Aug. 22, denied that she had set a Feb. 26 date for her wedding with her boyfriend, Dutch gospel singer Tylio Lobman.

"We will have our wedding service in the Netherlands before or after the general election in June. That is our plan. We don't even know if we can hold a wedding celebration here (in Indonesia)," she said.

The executive chairman of the Badminton Association of Indonesia, Karsono, said on Tuesday that Mia would marry Lobman on Feb. 26. Mia is scheduled to play in the 1998 Grand Prix Finals in Bandar Seri Begawan around that date.

Lobman shares Mia's views on the planned marriage, saying that both of them hope to create a stable life that will help them focus on their respective careers.

"This year is the right time for us to marry because we don't think living in the public eye for so long is good for us," said Lobman, whose mother is of Javanese descent.

Lobman is preparing a solo album which is expected to be released later this month. Indonesian pop composer and musician Dodo Zakaria is collaborating with him on the album.

Mia, her career on the rise after helping Indonesia win its second straight Uber Cup title, met Lobman in a South Jakarta church in mid-1997. Since then, the love struck pair has been inseparable, with Lobman always accompanying Mia to her badminton competitions.

Their romance, however, drew a barrage of criticism because of a slump in form suffered by Mia. Her world ranking dropped from number three to 11.

Her victory at the Indonesia Open last November, thanks in part to the absence of the world's best players, ended a 22-month title drought. Less than one month later, she lost to South Korean rivals ranked below her in both the team and individual events at the Asian Games in Bangkok.

The rumors took a malicious turn when a Jakarta tabloid recently reported that Mia might be pregnant. A sobbing Mia denied the report.

"After our marriage, we hope the public will no longer blame my defeats on Tylio," she said on Wednesday.

"Indonesians love to gossip. They always had negative thoughts every time I returned late to my dormitory after going out with Tylio. Everybody blamed him without knowing that we had gone out on family business," she said.

Mia said she would not retire after her marriage. She insisted that she would qualify for the 2000 Olympic Games in Sydney to make amends for her loss in the finals at the 1996 Atlanta Games.

"God endowed me with a talent to play badminton and I mustn't give it up. Besides, that's the only thing I can do now," she said.

"I want to play for six or seven more years. I'll compete in the Sudirman Cup and the World Championships this year," she added.

Mia's marriage plan drew new criticism and questions.

National coach Liang Chiusia said she regretted Mia's decision, although she said she would not ask her to cancel her plans.

"I don't know anything about it. She never told me she would get married. It's a pity. I would have suggested that she delay her marriage because she's still too young," Chiusia said.

"As a coach, I hope that she can accomplish even more. I had hoped that she would top the world rankings and collect a lot of titles before getting married," she added.

Chiusia could not avoid comparing Mia to her predecessor, former world badminton queen Susi Susanti, who retired last year because of her pregnancy.

"Susi married in 1996 at a perfect moment after winning many tournaments, including the 1992 Olympics. After her marriage, she still played very well," she said.

"I'm afraid that Mia will get pregnant too young. Her career still has a bright future. But that's her decision," she added. (yan)