No big tragedy

No big tragedy

In the recent All England badminton tournament Indonesia
succeeded in taking home only one title after the victory of our
men's double team of Ricky Subagja/Rexi Mainaki over their
compatriots Denny Kantono/Antonius. This has raised a disturbing
question: Has Indonesia's domination in world badminton come to
an end?

From the perspective of sports, defeats are normal. This is
all the more true where only two possibilities are open -- to
lose or to win -- unlike for example in soccer, where draws are
possible. If the defeat suffered by Susi Susanti and Hariyanto
Arbi caused a shock, it is merely because they control technical
qualities that are in reality far above those of their opponents.

In world tennis, at the time when Monica Seles was active and
was dominating every tournament, fears were once expressed. The
world tennis association racked its brains to find ways to make
sure that the public would continue to be attracted to tennis and
that it would not become bored at seeing Monica Seles coming out
the champion at every tournament.

As in tennis, in badminton, too, growth would be stunted if
Susi and Haryanto emerge as champions every time. Also, it would
be injurious if Indonesia continued to dominate the English
tournament which was conceived as long ago as in 1863. This is
all the more true since it must be admitted that a good sense of
entertainment is still lacking among us.

-- Bernas, Yogyakarta