PBSI tries to figure out what went wrong in 1999
By Primastuti Handayani
JAKARTA (JP): The year 1999 was definitely not one to celebrate for the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) after its shuttlers failed to meet targets to bring home the Sudirman Cup and defend their crowns in the World Championships in Copenhagen in May.
Although there were still titles in the Grand Prix series of tournaments -- including a men's doubles title for Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan in the sport's oldest, most prestigious tournament of the All England -- PBSI must look back at what went wrong during the year for badminton's onetime ruling power.
The new plan to cut the number of shuttlers from 66 to 32 at the Indonesian Badminton Center in Cipayung, East Jakarta, has fostered hopes that PBSI will be able to have players concentrate on the Thomas and Uber Cup team championships and the 2000 Olympics.
The other 34 shuttlers will train in four provinces of Jakarta, West Java, Central Java and East Java, but will still be supervised and financed by PBSI. If they show improvement in two selection tournaments in one year, they will have the chance to compete in the Grand Prix series.
If they perform well, they may be admitted to the center to replace shuttlers who resign or perform poorly over the course of the year.
However, many doubt that PBSI will be able to turn around its shuttlers' faltering performances of the last few months, especially among its women players.
PBSI vice chairman Agus Wirahadikusumah has proposed the dismissal of some women's singles and doubles coaches after the team's failure at the 1998 Asian Games in Bangkok last December. PBSI chairman Subagyo Hadisiswoyo and officials in charge of athletes development opposed the idea, saying PBSI still needed the coaches' skills.
Women
With the retirement of former world number one and 1992 Olympic gold medalist Susi Susanti, Indonesia's hopes for a woman to continue her winning ways shifted to Mia Audina.
The 1996 Olympic silver medalist disappointed many when she moved to the Netherlands three months after marrying a naturalized Dutch gospel singer. Mia missed the Sudirman Cup and World Championships, held concurrently in Copenhagen in May, after her mother's death the previous month.
Without Susi and Mia, PBSI looked to the relatively unknown quantities of Cindana Hartono, Lidya Djaelawidjaja and Ellen Angelina in the biennial event.
The three women, under the temporary tutelage of men's singles coaches Agus Dwi Santoso and Mulyo Handoyo, exceeded all expectations.
Ellen forced Danish number one and eventual world champion Camilla Martin to three games, and Lidya pushed Dai Yun of China.
Most surprising of all was unseeded Cindana's ouster of China's Gong Zhichao despite playing with injuries to her feet.
However, their excellent form did not continue when they returned to their coaches Liang Chiusia and Khoo Mei Hwa.
Lidya, however, did show flashes of brilliance in toppling Martin on the way to winning the Indonesia Open in Bali in September. However, it seemed like a flash in the pan when she returned to her desultory form of the past, including an embarrassing 0-11, 0-11 thrashing by Martin in the Grand Prix Finals in Brunei Darussalam in December.
Hard as it may be to undertake, PBSI is being forced to face the real possibility of replacing coaches who failed to improve their players' performance. The rumblings were heard last year but officials kept a steadfast silence.
PBSI training director Christian Hadinata argued it would not be wise to dismiss the coaches because he believed they imparted vital knowledge to their athletes.
The condition of the women's doubles is no better than in the singles. The country's best pair of Etty Tantri and Cynthia Tuwankotta, world ranked eight, have yet to reach their potential.
Veterans Elysa and Deyana Lomban were hobbled by the former's knee injury. Officials said Elysa was physically recovered from the injury but remained psychologically traumatized. Her reactions have also slowed, and the pair was bundled out by unknown Germans during the first round of the Singapore Open in August.
The most sobering evidence of the poor state of affairs was that not one Indonesian women's doubles pair qualified for the Grand Prix Finals. Etty and Cynthia were gifted a place after a Chinese pair withdrew.
Coach Imelda Wiguna, a close friend of Christian and herself a two-time world champion, is not one to accept criticism. She becomes angry whenever people question the performance of her players.
Christian seemed resigned to the situation, saying that he only hoped the women's doubles teams would not lose to lower- ranked players.
"In principal, we are sending them to tournaments abroad to maintain their qualification for the Olympics. They must also improve their ranking to gain a better draw. Athletes must have the responsibility to fulfill our targets."
Christian discounted the possibility of reteaming Deyana with former partner Indarti Issolina after their strong performance in the Sudirman Cup.
"It's too risky for the Olympics because Elysa and Deyana have good cooperation. If we change partners, I'm afraid they won't be able to qualify for the Olympics."
In the mixed doubles, Indonesia's hopes rest with the veteran pair of Tri Kusheryanto and Minarti Timur and Bambang Suprianto and Zelin Resiana.
Minarti, 31, plans to retire after the Olympics due to age. Zelin, the wife of former world singles champion Joko Suprianto, also plans to retire to have children.
The second string pairing of Emma Ermawati and Wahyu Agung have yet to show consistently strong performances.
Although PBSI has many good men's doubles specialists, it lacks women of equal caliber to team with them.
Men's players
With a glut of talent, Indonesian men's singles players are vying with each other for places on the Thomas Cup team and the Olympics next year.
The year witnessed the rise of young star Taufik Hidayat, who lost to Dane Peter Gade Christensen in the All England final but won the 1999 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games gold medal.
Taufik also lost to veteran compatriot Hariyanto Arbi in the Singapore Open final but won the Indonesia Open.
Subagyo said PBSI did not want Taufik to shoulder the great burden of expectations for the Olympics, especially after he failed to reach the semifinals of the Grand Prix Finals and he slipped to number five in the world rankings. However, PBSI called on Taufik's former coach Iie Sumirat to help train Taufik.
Iie, a former world men's singles champion, is expected to be able to boost Taufik's motivation and competitive spirit in international events next year.
Hariyanto and Marlev also showed great improvement recently, with Hariyanto winning in Singapore and Marlev the runner up in the Grand Prix Finals.
Hariyanto, who finally overcame a back injury, was motivated by PBSI's concern after he expressed interest in relocating to Singapore.
The former All England champion spoke of disappointment at treatment by PBSI officials concerning a requirement he compete in internal selections to decide which players are sent to international events.
Marlev, a younger brother of men's doubles specialist Rexy Mainaky, expressed similar discontent. He was about to be expelled from the center until he showed great improvement in the middle of this year.
He said his renewed motivation came from longtime girlfriend Helen Poukie, whom he married in October.
After his ranking soared to three on the International Badminton Federation (IBF) computer, Marlev said his treatment by PBSI improved.
Teammate Hendrawan suffered a slump after a strong 1998. He performed well in the JVC Asia Cup in Vietnam in November, but conceded he was not playing at his best.
"I still have to work harder, especially if I want to be the country's hero in the Thomas Cup. With my ranking at number 12, I hope I can do better next year."
In the men's doubles, Candra and Tony are still the country's best hope as other pairs are dogged by erratic form.
Former world number ones Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian appear to have suffered a loss of confidence. They endured a humiliating defeat from Thais Pramote Teerawiwatana and Tesana Pansisavas in the SEA Games final.
The 1996 Olympic gold medalists, Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky, continued to perform well but showed the effects of advancing age.
Rexy announced this year that he would retire to accept a coaching job in England. His plan sparked controversy and forced Christian to speak to Rexy and Ricky. Rexy agreed to postpone retirement until after the Olympics.
Christian said: "Candra and Tony need backups and we only have Ricky and Rexy because other shuttlers still cannot be relied upon."
However, Christian still can smile as former world champion Sigit Budiarto is back in action after a one-year ban for taking an anabolic steroid.
Partnering Halim Heryanto, Sigit reached the Chinese Open quarterfinals and Hong Kong Open final.
Sigit said he was starting to regain his confidence and competitiveness in his aim to qualify for the Olympics.
Homework
In evaluating its successes and failures, PBSI will have to work harder to head off the slump in form and discover talented women players.
The plan to reduce the number of shuttlers in the center is a good start, but it will be useless if the establishment of training centers in the four provinces does not receive adequate support from clubs and PBSI chapters.
Susi urged PBSI to recruit younger women shuttlers, starting of the age of 14 instead of 18, as it did this year.
With a crop of young talent to pick from, PBSI would no longer have to worry about the poor performances of its aging players.
The country, spoiled by the glorious heyday of Susi in the 1990s, may have to grudgingly accept going without international women's titles in the next three years. But, with younger players in training, it should see a change in its fortunes in the next few years.
PBSI must be able to publish guidelines of training methods for clubs and provincial chapters nationwide to ensure they reach a general standard.
Coaches must also learn new technical skills and arrange training methods to allow them to analyze the performance of their own shuttlers, and size up opponents, for tournaments.
The good cooperation of officials, coaches, athletes and the role of other supporting factors -- including psychologists, doctors, motivators and masseurs -- are expected to occur next year in an effort to retain the Thomas Cup, bring home the Uber Cup and win Olympic gold medals.