National shuttlers steal the show at Anaheim worlds
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Indonesia, no longer the preeminent force in badminton of the 1960s and 1970s, can still step up and win when it matters the most, even if it's the same dependable players taking the honors.
Although the nation's players came away empty handed from the All England, the game's oldest and most prestigious event, and were runner's up in the Sudirman Cup mixed team championship in May to powerhouse China, they bounced back to win two of the five titles on offer at the World Championships in August.
Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat, who missed the All England with a knee injury, showed once again that he is almost unstoppable when he puts his mind to the task at hand. He swept the men's singles world title over the army of top-ranked Chinese men in Anaheim, California.
His feat was matched by Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir in the mixed doubles. National number one men's doubles pairing Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto lost in their final to Howard Bach and Indonesian-born Tony Gunawan, now representing the United States.
China, which was looking for a sweep of the world crowns with top-ranked players in all events, ended up with only two titles from women's singles and women's doubles.
In relative terms, considering the slow regeneration in badminton, the dearth of quality women players (none were sent for the singles competition in Anaheim) and the fact that the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) only recently restarted its talent scouting program, Indonesia did well.
And it still dominates in the region, winning four of the six gold medals on offer in badminton at the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in the Philippines in December. Its only shutouts were in the men's and women's team competitions (the former a close loss in the final to Malaysia), and women's doubles.
In men's singles, Indonesia still relies on temperamental golden boy Taufik, 24, with Sony Dwi Kuncoro, 21, struggling to recover from a heel injury.
Simon Santoso, 20, despite beating a lackluster Taufik in the third round at the Indonesia Open in Jakarta, still lacks confidence in top-level competition.
In men's doubles, the senior doubles pair of Candra and Sigit, both aged 30, still lead the rest of their compatriots, followed by Luluk Hadiyanto, 26, and Alven Yulianto, 25, Flandi Limpele, 31, and Eng Hian, 28, and the up-and-coming pair of Markis Kidho, 21, and Hendra Setiawan, 21.
The latter pulled off a surprise by defeating Candra and Sigit in the Indonesian Open final.
In mixed doubles, the top pair is Nova, 28, and Lilyana, 20, with Anggun Nugroho, 23, and Yunita Tetty, 24, playing solid backup.
Women's singles players Fransisca Ratnasari Hari S, Maria Kristin, Silvi Antarini, and Ardianti Firdasari, who took gold at the SEA Games, have been unable to crack the top 20.
In women's doubles, Jo Novita, 25, paired with Greysia Polii, 18, are the top pair, but have yet to win a five-star tournament.
The glaring weakness of the women's division was a major contributor to the country's loss in the Sudirman Cup final, despite the efforts of Taufik and the men's doubles teams to reach the final.
The women cannot be considered a threat for the Uber Cup women's team competition in 2006, although the men, who lost in the semifinals in 2004 to Denmark, may have a chance to dethrone the Chinese in the Thomas Cup, which will be played concurrently in Sendai, Japan.
PBSI's former head of development affairs Icuk Sugiarto, who resigned from his post shortly before the Sudirman Cup in May, believes Indonesia will have to rely on the current crop of top players for several more years.
"The next generation under the talent scouting program and national selection is not ready yet. Perhaps in three or four years they will be ready," he said.
Among the hopefuls are Fauzi Adnan, 17, Andre Kurniawan Tejono, 19, Sakti Kusuma, 17, Andreas Adityawarman, 17, Icuk's son Tommy, 16, and Alamsyah, 19, among junior boys, and Dian Ayu Mayasari, 19, Rosaria Yusfin Pungkasari, 18, Wiwis Meiliana, 19, Nintya Khrisinda, 17, Yulianti,18, Nadya Melati, 19, and Pia Zebadiah, 16, among the girls.
They were selected for the national training program after passing a series of tests in February.
Fauzi, Sakti Kusuma, Andreas, Pia and Rosaria vied with Chinese and Korean junior competitors in the Asian Championship in Jakarta this year.
The Indonesian boy's team lost to Korea 2-3, while the women's team lost China 1-3 in the semis.
PBSI talent scouting official Imelda Wiguna said that she was satisfied with their progress.
"In recnet years, our young players always lost easily to Chinese and Korean players, but now the matches are relatively equal," she said.
She hoped the young players would get the training needed at the national training center to realize their potential -- without unnecessary distractions.
"The talent scouting program and the national selection are very good programs, but now it is time to focus on training the shuttlers better without any organizational disputes that will only hamper the development of badminton."