PBSI tries to figure out what went wrong in 1999
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.