Philippines asks for RI badminton coaches

JAKARTA (JP): The Badminton Association of Indonesia had the honor of being visited by the chairwoman of the Badminton Association of the Philippines, Amelita M Ramos, at its headquarters in Cipayung, East Jakarta, yesterday.

Ramos was accompanied by her daughter Cristy Ramos-Jalasco - chairwoman of the Philippine Olympic Committee - and the Philippine ambassador to Indonesia - Eusebio A Abaquin,

The first lady of the Philippines asked Indonesia to provide coaches for her country.

"We need to have more coaches from Indonesia. Here you have thousands but in the Philippines we only have 10 to 15 coaches," Ramos told reporters at the BAI headquarters.

Indonesia's association chairman, Soerjadi, who briefed Ramos about the headquarters' condition, agreed not only to send coaches to the Philippines but also to send national shuttlers periodically.

"We talked about the possibility of sending Indonesian coaches to my country," she said.

The first lady took a close look at the condition of the national badminton headquarters, examined a model of the building, watched the players practicing and inspected the dormitories.

"I'm very impressed at the facilities here. Hopefully, we can learn something from here," she said.

Ramos said she would send Filipino shuttlers to take part at the next SEA Games, which is to be staged here in October 1997.

"Of course our target is to get the gold medal," she said, a remark that was met with laughs.

Ramos is sure that she will be assisted by her husband, President Fidel Ramos, and daughter Ramos-Jalasco to develop badminton in her country.

"It's not only now that I want to develop badminton. But I started as soon as I became the chairman of the federation," she said.

Ramos said the Philippines badminton association is establishing links with the country's ministry of education and culture to popularize the sport in elementary schools.

She also said that the government helps the development by providing rackets, shoes and other equipment to the children.

According to Ramos, the Philippines only has one international standard shuttler, Wyna Liem, who qualified for the Centennial Olympic Games in Atlanta, Georgia.

"This is a step forward for the country to have a shuttler qualify for the Olympic," she said.

Ramos received two badminton rackets, for her and her husband, from former World Champion Heryanto Arby during yesterday's visit. The rackets were signed by Indonesia's best shuttlers, including Susi Susanti, Alan Budikusuma, Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky.

Before leaving Cipayung, Ramos challenged Indonesia's rookie Hani Setyani, daughter of national coach Atik Jauhari, to a singles match.

Surprisingly, Ramos, who admired Indonesia's Olympic gold medalists Ricky and Rexy, was able to fight against Hani.

"I can still hit the shuttle but I can't run anymore," said the 69-year-old first lady. (yan)