RI badminton glorious, but needs to work harder

RI badminton glorious, but needs to work harder

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian badminton had its ups and downs in 2002 as there were
several good or even glorious achievements, but not without sad
stories of defeat.

The most glorious achievement was when the Indonesian team
achieved a historic feat by winning the men's team Thomas Cup for
the fifth time in a row at the May 9 to May 16 tournament in
Guangzhou, China, after defeating Malaysia 3-2 in the final.

Another glorious moment was the Busan Asian Games, when
Indonesian men's singles shuttler Taufik Hidayat managed to win
the gold medal despite biased linesmen who supported the local
heroes.

In total, Indonesia has won the 22 Thomas Cup contests 13
times.

Indonesia first carved its own historical niche in the 1970s,
winning the cup four times in a row from 1969 to 1979, while
winning another in 1984.

This year's historic feat started in 1994 when Malaysia was
beaten in Jakarta. Indonesian men's badminton shuttlers defended
the coveted cup every two years until they carved another
historic feat by defending the cup five times.

The second-best achievement in Thomas Cup history was winning
the Cup three times consecutively; only three countries had
previously done that. Malaysia won the Cup since its inception in
1948 to 1955, followed by Indonesia in 1957 to 1964 and then
China in 1986 to 1992.

The victory became all the more noteworthy because nobody
would have believed that the team could even reach the final, let
alone create badminton history.

Indonesian shuttlers had produced poor performances in the
individual events prior to the 2002 Thomas Cup. The coaches,
however, were sure that their boys would do it.

The best performance prior to the Thomas Cup was achieved by
Marlev Mainaky, who won the Swiss Open in early March, defeating
James Chua of Malaysia.

Earlier in March, Budi Santoso made a surprising leap in his
career by reaching the All England final before losing to Chinese
Chen Hong.

Meanwhile in April's Japan Open, Indonesian shuttlers did not
win anything as only the mixed doubles pair of Nova Widhianto and
Vita Marissa entered the final in a South Korea-dominated event.

Apart from most of the Indonesian top shuttlers failing to
reach their best performance prior to the Thomas Cup, the
preparation was also hampered by transfer problems.

Men's singles shuttler Taufik Hidayat briefly moved to
Singapore in January while Sydney Olympics doubles shuttler Tony
Gunawan relocated to the U.S. to pursue his academic career.

Taufik insisted that he would play for Singapore in individual
tournaments only, while emphasizing his allegiance to defend
Indonesia in the Thomas Cup and Busan Asian Games.

This, however, failed to calm down the Badminton Association
of Indonesia (PBSI), which threatened to ban Taufik from
international events.

Such threats forced Taufik to return home in March, breaking
his contract with Singapore.

It was a different situation for Tony as despite expressing
his wish to be in the team, he could not make it into the team
for preparation excuses.

Despite all these problems, as soon as the team arrived in
Guangzhou, its confidence grew each day, beating all the odds.
Indonesia fared well in the Thomas Cup, without losing any
matches.

Victory was achieved by defeating Germany, Malaysia and
Thailand in the group matches and Denmark in the semifinals.
Indonesia did not meet the two other badminton powerhouses, host
China and South Korea.

It was in the Busan Asian Games that Indonesia had the
opportunity of facing China in the men's team semifinals match.

Participating in the Asian Games is almost like being in the
Olympics, as most of the top badminton nations are in Asia.

By defeating China, Indonesia would have scored a famous
victory, to become the unbeatable men's team in 2002.

But hopes were too high, as Indonesia crashed 1-3 in the final
against host South Korea amid accusations that the local linesmen
were biased toward their own shuttlers.

Then there was another South Korean opponent, stronger, this
time, in the form of Lee Hyun-il. Still, Taufik beat all the odds
and clinched Indonesia's fourth and last gold medal in the Busan
Asiad.

Although Indonesia failed to defend its men's team gold medal,
badminton can still be proud of its success in continuing its
gold medal tradition.

While the men's shuttlers could walk with their heads held
relatively high, the women's shuttlers had to accept the reality
that they were just not good enough to reach the final of the
Uber Cup.

It could not have been easy being defeated in the semifinals
by upcoming powerhouse the Netherlands, which relied heavily on
Indonesian-born Mia Audina.

The Indonesian girls had to work really hard during February's
qualifying round in Melbourne, Australia. The girls barely missed
the spot in Guangzhou.

Despite the historic feat, there was one question left to be
answered by PBSI officials.

What made them refuse to field young players?

Indonesia relied on Marlev Mainaky, Taufik Hidayat, Hendrawan,
Budi Santoso, Rony Agustinus in the singles and Candra Wijaya,
Sigit Budiarto, Halim Haryanto and Tri Kusheryanto in the
doubles.

Such a decision not to field young athletes was a mistake, as
other countries such as China and Malaysia had given greater
opportunities and responsibilities to their young shuttlers.

China for example, fielded juniors Dai Yun and Lin Dan, who
are at the same stage of development as Indonesian Sony Dwi
Kuncoro and Ardiansyah.

Sony showed his expertise by defeating defending champion
Taufik at the JVC Asian Championships in Bangkok in November.