Milo event scouts future shuttlers among schools
Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Around 600 elementary school students will take part in the School Badminton Championships beginning on Friday, with the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) hoping that the drive will give the nation more young badminton talents.
The competition, sponsored by PT Nestle Indonesia and Yonex, will be staged in five select major cities in Java and Sumatra and will involve 60 elementary schools.
Aksa Mahmud, who is in charge of development affairs at PBSI, said the association expected future athletes to emerge from the competition.
"Hopefully, they will form the next generation of shuttlers, which will bear the task of defending our supremacy in the badminton world," he said here on Monday.
The week-long opening series of the competition, which has adopted the round-robin format, will commence on Friday in Bandung, West Java.
The next series are scheduled from Jan. 24 to Jan. 31 in Pekanbaru, Riau; from Mar. 13 to Mar. 20 in Surakarta, Central Java; from Apr. 11 to Apr. 17 in Palembang, South Sumatra; and from Apr. 19 to Apr. 25 in Denpasar, Bali.
The winners from each series will qualify for the finals, which will be staged from May 9 to 15 in Bandung.
The champions will be given a chance to participate in the Milo Junior Indonesia Open, the successful contenders of which might be given a slot at the national training center.
A number of the current national badminton front-runners are past winners of the Milo Junior Indonesia Open, including Sony Dwi Kuncoro, the two-time Asian champion and gold medalist at the recent 2003 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games, and Indonesia's rising stars Simon Santosa, Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan.
Finalist Silvi Antarini of the 2003 Asian Cup, along with Siti Mahiroh and Maria Kristin, also began their careers at the Milo tourney.
Mien Susanti, chairman of the organizing committee, said the winners of each category would receive a cash prize of Rp 800,000 (US$94.12), while second place would receive Rp 550,000 and third place, Rp 450,000.
Brata T. Hardjosubroto, head of public relations at PT Nestle Indonesia, said the organizers would also award scholarships to series' winners.
The winners' schools would also receive funds to refurbish their sports facilities.