New coach Verawaty vows to impose more discipline

JAKARTA (JP): A slight glimmer of hope for improved international achievement has appeared in women's singles badminton as new coach Verawaty Fadjrin expressed her goal of boosting players' motivation and discipline.

Vera, as she is better known, underlined lack of self- motivation and discipline as being the cause of Indonesia's poor record of achievement in the game over the last three years.

"Firstly, I must up their self-motivation as they are the chosen ones out of millions of Indonesian women," she told reporters after coaching for the first time at the Indonesian Badminton Center in Cipayung, East Jakarta, on Monday.

"They must put their best foot forward and play all out in every international event."

Verawaty paid special attention to national women's singles Lidya Djaelawidjaja, Ellen Angelina, Yuli Marfuah and Atu Rosalina.

Two other shuttlers, Chindana Hartono and Ninik Masrikah, are temporarily unavailable due to injury.

"They're the best shuttlers we have and they have no opponents of equal stature. They can't get any competition here," Vera said.

"I was in the top spot and know how it felt to be without any competitors. They must be able to boost their motivation from the inside."

Since former world number one Susy Susanti quit the center and the country's second best Mia Audina moved to the Netherlands following her husband, Indonesian women's shuttlers have performed poorly in international events.

In 1999, only Chindana managed to earn a Southeast Asian Games gold medal and Lidya took the Indonesian Open title. Last year, none of the Indonesian women's singles earned any titles in the Grand Prix series sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation (IBF).

Discipline

Vera also said that women's shuttlers must improve their discipline during training.

"Shuttlers must also play more seriously even during training with teammates. They must visualize it as a real match. They have to develop an attitude of not quitting easily, whether in training or in real matches."

The 1980 world champion cited an example where shuttlers did not seriously train during stroke sessions.

"They don't send proper shots because they don't understand the benefit of having practice partners," she said.

"From now on, I want my shuttlers to be more disciplined. They have to be on time for training even if there's nobody else on court. They can start by warming up."

Vera also said she would expel any indisciplined shuttlers.

"The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) has to be stricter as regards discipline. This is an important factor if they want to do better."

"I will personally kick any lazy and irresponsible shuttlers out of the camp. It's better to admit more juniors than having seniors who refuse to improve themselves.

With the nearest tournament being the upcoming All England, Vera said that her expectations were not high given that there had only been three weeks of preparation.

"We don't have enough preparation this time. It's really important for the players to play all out. I only expect them to obtain similar results to last year.

Lidya told The Jakarta Post that she was aiming at improving her performance in the event.

"I aim to reach the quarterfinals. I lost to Gong Zhichao of China in last year's second round. As the world number eight, I expect to get a good draw and not meet any strong shuttlers in the early stages."

Indonesia's number three Yuli Marfuah did not expect much given her limited preparations.

"I'm only aiming to avoid being beaten in the early rounds, but it will all depend on the draw." (nvn)