National shuttlers steal the show at Anaheim worlds
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."