SEA Games victory brings smiles but frowns remain
SEA Games victory brings smiles but frowns remain
Higher, faster and stronger. The Jakarta Post's sports desk,
Robert Soelistyo, Primastuti Handayani and Lukman Natanegara,
assesses Indonesia's sporting year and pick out some of the most
prominent winners and losers.
JAKARTA (JP): If regaining its overall title at the SEA Games
in October was the target touted to justify sports development in
Indonesia this year then we can wear big smiles in recognition of
the fact that it was achieved.
But if we look at individual sports -- especially soccer and
badminton which usually take center stage here -- we see there
was no progress. We can even say Indonesia was left way behind
other southeast Asian countries let alone countries elsewhere in
Asia, particularly in the world's most popular sport.
Elimination in the first qualifying round of the 1998 World
Cup shows that there is something very wrong with the Indonesian
soccer scene.
The losing streak was followed by substandard performances in
other Asian championships, and defeat in the final at the SEA
Games to archrival Thailand further proved how domestic soccer
had lost ground to foreign rivals.
Ever since Azwar Anaz took over the helm of the country's
soccer governing body almost a decade ago, soccer has never
reached the heights, let alone respectability. Indeed, glittering
performances by hooligans have been more noteworthy. Almost all
soccer matches, whether they were in regional or local
tournaments, never mind the National League, seemed to be marred
by hooliganism.
Badminton
It is true that Indonesia controlled the badminton courts at
the SEA Games by sweeping all the gold medals on offer, but in
the most prestigious competition, the All-England, which
Indonesia once dominated, our shuttlers went home empty handed.
In the Grand Prix series played in 20 countries and the finals
in Jakarta, only the men's doubles won the most medals with
eight. The men's singles won six and the women seven, results
less impressive than in 1996.
The 1997 World Grand Prix Badminton finals have just ended.
The winners of the tournament proved that they are indeed the
best at their sport.
China can rightfully claim to be the world's strongest
badminton nation as it won four of the five titles on offer. Sun
Jun won the men's singles title, beating compatriot Dong Jiong
while Ye Zhaoying defeated archrival Susi Susanti of Indonesia.
Ge Fei/Gu Jun were still unbeatable in the women's doubles
while Liu Yong/Ge Fei also demonstrated their dominance in the
mixed doubles.
Indonesia retained a modicum of pride by holding on to the
men's doubles title. Candra Wijaya/Sigit Budiarto buried the
ambition of the Malaysian pair Cheah Soon Kit/Yap Kim Hock to
take revenge for when the Indonesian juniors beat them in a
thrilling final of the World Championships in Glasgow, Scotland,
in May.
The results mean the new chairman of the Badminton Association
of Indonesia, Subagyo Hadi Siswoyo, who is also the Army's deputy
chief of staff, will have to work harder than he might have
expected to improve the standard of national shuttlers' play.
Of the 16 men's singles shuttlers competing at the event,
eight came from Indonesia. They were Hariyanto Arbi, Indra
Wijaya, Marlev Mainaky, Ardy B. Wiranata, Alan Budikusuma,
Hendrawan, Hermawan Susanto and Budi Santoso.
None of them reached the semifinals. So the pressure is on the
national coaches to improve their play, particularly as Indonesia
is aiming to retain the Thomas Cup and win the Asian Games gold
medal in 1998.
It also proved that being in the world's elite does not
guarantee that they are necessarily as good as their rankings.
Our shuttlers first of all need to improve their physical
fitness. Most of them wilted whenever they had to play a rubber-
set.
However, the country's men's doubles are still the strongest
in the world. Indonesia has Candra/Sigit and seniors Ricky
Subagja/Rexy Mainaky, the 1996 Olympic gold medalists.
Both pairs will be the backbone of Indonesia's Thomas Cup
team.
In the women's singles, the 1992 Olympic gold medalist Susi
Susanti failed to win her seventh title in the tournament
although she is the only female shuttler to have won the title
six times.
However, Susi's plan to have children may have to be delayed
as the country still needs her. Other female shuttlers are still
unreliable in major events.
Junior Mia Audina, the 1996 Olympic silver medalist, failed to
cruise to the semifinals as expected. The 18-year-old shuttler
must practice harder, as she still made many unforced errors in
critical points, and throw away her spoilt-brat attitude.
She must also learn to analyze her rivals every time she
finishes a match.
Subagyo, who was elected the association's chairman at the
national congress last month, must work harder with his new staff
to prepare the shuttlers for next year's events.
He must improve the athletes development programs and recruit
more coaches, including physical trainers, to boost the shuttlers
performances.
Subagyo must also send more juniors to Grand Prix series,
instead of just seniors, to give them more experience of
international competitions.
This will be hard to do due to the country's economic
situation. He will have to work harder to find more sponsors to
finance the tournament trips.
Subagyo will also have to look for new talent in the
association's 27 provincial branches, especially women.
Will Subagyo be able to learn from the former officials and
improve our shuttlers performances in the upcoming years?
Indonesians expect him to produce more stars but they will wish
him good luck in his new job.
Tennis
The other sport played on courts, tennis, did much to make up
for the poor showing of other sports in the international scene
as shown by success both in the SEA Games and more prestigious
international competitions.
This year will go down as one of the most controversial ever
for the Indonesian Tennis Association as, for the first time, the
country's number one women's tennis player, Yayuk Basuki,
declined to compete for her country.
But her decision to concentrate on reaching the world's top 20
rather than compete at the 19th SEA Games here in October not
only brought her success. It meant other national players were
also able to taste victory.
Although Yayuk climbed to number 20 she was not the first
Asian to reach the elite. Japan's Naoko Sawamatsu had reached the
world number 14 position in 1995, six place higher than Yayuk and
fellow Japanese Kimiko Date made the top ten.
However the Indonesian public still admires her for attaining
a higher position that at any time previously in her career.
Even without Yayuk, Indonesia unexpectedly defeated Thailand
in both the men's and women's team events at the region's
biennial gathering.
Young players Wynne Prakusya, Liza Andriyani and Wukirasih
Sawondari and senior Irawati Moerid Iskandar proved that world
rankings meant nothing compared to their great determination to
win.
Liza and Wukirasih beat world-ranked 37 Tamarine Tanasugarn of
Thailand in the team and individual events respectively.
The men's team of Andrian Raturandang, Suwandi, Bonit Wiryawan
and Sulistyo Wibowo overcame the Thai squad which had Paradorn
Srichaphan and the Philippines with its star Joseph Lizardo to
win the team gold after trying for 10 years.
Their victory in the SEA Games is a good basis from which to
prepare the young players for the 13th Asian Games in Bangkok
next December.
The association, which has staged national selection
tournaments every six months since 1995, is rearranging its
selection system.
Instead of training the eight best players of each sex, the
association will now only pick five male and five female players
to improve efficiency.
Andrian, Bonit, Sulistyo, Suhendar Dinata and newcomer
Yusmawan Fahmi will represent the men's side while Wynne,
Wukirasih, Irawati, Eny Sulistyowati and Mudarwati will play on
the women's team.
The country's best male player, Suwandi, was excluded from the
national team as he failed to qualify from the selection
tournament.
The association's National Team Board official, Benny Mailili,
said that Suwandi was not fit to compete in a team event as he
always failed to overcome the emotional pressure.
Yayuk, who ended 1997 21st in the world rankings, had agreed
to team up for the Asian Games.
In the Davis Cup, Indonesia failed to overcome New Zealand in
its Asia/Oceania Zone Group I match in April but the country
still stays in the group.
In the Federation Cup, Indonesia returned to the World Group
II after beating Chinese Taipei in March. Last year, Indonesia
had to fight through the qualification stages after losing its
matches.
However, our female players, without Yayuk who declined to
play on clay, failed to overcome Italy in July's World Group II
playoff tie.
Indonesian players' achievements in international events
recently also showed that their standard has risen.
Andrian, for example, reached the final of the Asian
Championships in Taipei earlier this month before succumbing to a
South Korean player.
The association, which hopes to win medals at the Asian Games,
has every reason to be proud.
It succeeded in both of its two objectives: to win gold
medals, and to groom the young players for tougher tests on the
international tennis circuit.
Contract bridgeb
Contract bridge, which was Indonesia's pride for many years
took a back seat this year as it lost its dominance in both the
Asia-Pacific region and on the world scene. Indonesia did not
even qualify for the Bermuda Bowl, the most prestigious men's
team event in the world.
Indonesia first qualified for the Bermuda Bowl in 1973 and
appeared again the following two years. In 1981, 1983, and 1985
Indonesia once more entered the fray as it did in 1993 two years
ago in Beijing.
The association, which celebrated its 40th anniversary on Dec.
12, achieved its highest accolade when it finished second in the
World Bridge Teams Olympiad in Greece last year.
The Indonesian Contract Bridge Association seems to have lost
interest of late in providing the media with information about
bridge competitions either at home or abroad. For example a
national level championships which saw almost all Indonesia's
world-rated players taking part was not publicized prior to the
event.
An observer of this brain sport quipped that many officials in
the association were mere lapdogs, waiting for the chairman's
command; If the chief keeps silent about a tournament, then so do
the lower officials. That was the case with the East Java
Prasidha Open championships in last September in Surabaya where
Denny Sacul, Eddy Manoppo, Ferdy Waluyan, Hengky Lasut, Santje
Panelewen, Franky Kawur, Bert Polii and Munawar Sawiruddin were
in action.
Golf
Despite the fact that an abundance of golf courses have sprung
up in the last five years, the country once again failed to
produce a national champion who could hold his own on the
international scene.
Indonesia has always been high on lists when it comes to
deciding where to host international tournaments but, as has been
the case for many years, the winners of almost all the major
international tournaments this year were foreigners.
There is no knowing when a local will repeat the 1989 exploits
of Kasiadi from Surabaya who rewrote golf history by becoming the
first local player to win the Indonesian Open title.
Two of Indonesia's leading pros, Kasiadi and Maan Naasim from
Sawangan Golf and Country Club, were given the chance to venture
onto the Asian scene thanks to sponsorship from Indosat. They
success was mediocre; they came nowhere near winning any of the
six legs of the 24 in the Asian Omega Tour in which they
competed.
Chess
While many sports in Indonesia struggled to improve their
standings in 1997, this was not the case with chess.
Chess in Indonesia showed stirring progress this year with
more people becoming interested in the cerebral sport.
This was in line with the wish of the chairman of the
Indonesian Chess Association, Akbar Tandjung, who always wanted
the sport to become popular at the lowest village level.
"I believe that we can develop good players in rural villages
and not only in big cities. But we can achieve this aim only if
we popularize chess throughout the villages in Indonesia," Akbar
said.
One of the most prominent achievements has been Grandmaster
Utut Adianto increasing his elo rating from 2,615 to five or ten
points higher.
He achieved this by winning his opening match on his debut
appearance at the world championships held early December in
Groningen, the Netherlands.
He recorded a 2-0 victory against Chinese GM Wang Zhili before
losing to tournament favorite GM Peter Svidler of Russia 0.5-1.5.
Djamil Djamal, the secretary of the Indonesian Chess
Association, told The Jakarta Post that it was still not known
what Utut's elo rating would be once the new rankings are
announced after the conclusion of the championships.
"We will learn the result from FIDE (the world chess governing
body) who will publish their report in early January. I am
optimistic that Utut's elo rating will increase by between five
and 10 points," Djamil said.
Utut was representing the East Asia and the Asia-Pacific zone
at the world championships. The competition was attended by 100
of the world's best chess players. The winner will face FIDE
world champion GM Anatoly Karpov.
Indonesia has four grandmasters, Herman Surediredja.
Ardianysah, Utut and Edhi Handoko. Utut has the highest elo
rating among the four players. Herman's elo rating is 2,245,
Ardiansyah's 2,475 and Edhi's 2,470.
Another achievement, admittedly over the last two years, has
been the creation of three International Masters, five Fide
Masters and three GM Results.
The three IMs are Ruben Gunawan, Denny Yuswanto and Bobby
Kurniawan, four of the five FMs are Hamdani Rudin, Awam Wahono,
Kasmiran and Kifly Tusnali, and the three GM Results are Ruben,
Ivan Situru and Kifly.
"All ten players have received recognition from FIDE. We hope
to create more IMs, FMs and GM Results next year," Jamil said.
This year also saw two international events staged in Jakarta.
The first was the appearance of Judith Polgar, a grandmaster from
Hungary, against local woman players in August and the Clash of
the Titans between Utut and Karpov in November.
Both Judith and Karpov won their tournaments. For the local
women players and Utut, the competitions were good experience for
them not only to show off their skills but also to improve their
technique.
Karpov said that the Indonesian players had great potential
and only lacked experience.
"If Indonesia wants to improve its players' ability, the best
way is to send them overseas to compete in international
tournaments," Karpov said after his 5.5-3.5 victory against Utut.
In early December, the chess association sent four top young
players to compete in the world youth championships in Cannes,
France. The four players competed in the 10, 11 and 14-years-of
age categories.
The four players (three boys and one girl) were Taufik Hallai,
Susanto Megaranto, Bagas Prama Ananta and Evie Lindiawati.
Of the four Taufik and Susanto did the best, coming 7th and
8th respectively in their -- the youngest -- category.
"Taufik and Susanto's success has proved that Indonesia can
get its players to the top of the world youth rankings,"
Kristianus Liem said in Cannes, where he was accompanying the
young players.
Autosports
Three different automotive world championships were staged in
Indonesia this year -- a leg of the World Rally Championships in
Medan, North Sumatra, a Motorbike Grand Prix and Superbike race,
both held at Sentul International Circuit. Local drivers and
riders found their world-class competitors very hard to beat.
In neither the Motorbike GP or the Superbike race, held at the
international-standard circuit, were Indonesian competitors able
to break into the top ten.
However, there is hope in one direction. Ananda Mikola, 16,
showed he is one of Asia's leading Formula Three drivers with the
potential to break the Europeans' domination, and is getting
closer to his ambition of becoming the first southeast Asian
Formula One driver.
In the rally held in North Sumatra for the second consecutive
year, local drivers' results demonstrated that they are
developing. They were able to finish in the top 10 in the lately
organized championship.
Sentul international circuit, located near Bogor, which was
inaugurated by President Soeharto and whose board of directors
includes top government dignitaries, was certified by the world's
automotive controlling body as a Formula One circuit.
"But we will not be able fulfill many Indonesians' dream and
organize a F-1 race here in the very near future as it will
require millions of dollars to fulfill," circuit director Tinton
Suprapto says.
According to Tinton, Ananda's father, "I would rather prepare
one local driver in F-1 first and then later host such a
prestigious race, albeit with skyrocketing costs."
In professional boxing, since the fading of Elly Pical in the
late 1980s, there has been practically no one able to match his
success in the International Boxing Federation's junior
bantamweight division.
Elly won the world title in 1985 and held the crown for three
years before Thailand'S Kasiao Galaxy ended his career in a
bloody battle at Senayan stadium.
Indonesia has never again seen the likes of such a classy
professional fighter.
In the amateur ring, the President's (International Amateur)
Cup, which was rated among one of the world prestigious event for
at least a decade after its inauguration in the 1970s, showed
once again that it is no longer as attractive as it once was.
Track and field
In track and field Indonesia has to admit that its athletes
are far behind other Southeast Asian countries.
At the SEA Games Malaysia surprisingly finished first, winning
16 of the 44 gold medals on offer, seven silvers and five bronzes
while favorite, and defending champion, Thailand was pipped into
second place with 15 golds, 13 silvers and seven bronzes.
Host Indonesia won eight golds, seven silvers and 12 bronzes
to finished third.
The country particularly has to thank Army sergeant Supriati
Sutono, who streaked away to gold in the 1,500m, 5,000m, and
10,000m events and broke three SEA Games records.
Supriati, who trained on the Pengalengan plateau in West Java
won her first gold in the 1,500m by clocking 4 minutes 21.50
seconds, well ahead of Yu Fang Yuan of Malaysia in 4:24.46 and
Saipin Suetrong of Thailand (4:25.43).
In the 5,000m Supriati again broke Yu Fang Yuan's hope of
winning the gold after finished first in 16 minutes 11.60
seconds. Yu clocked 16:18.12 to finish second and Mar Win Win of
Myanmar was third in 16:38.40.
In the 10,000m, Supriati completed her middle and long-
distance supremacy by bringing home the gold in 34:02.26. Yu had
to swallow another bitter pill as she only finished second with
34:18.67 while Mar Win Win was third with 35:09.84.
The Indonesian Amateur Athletics Association groomed some
short-distance runners in Houston, Texas, for about three months.
But unfortunately the athletes did not demonstrate their best
form in the biennial event.
On the other hand, some athletes groomed at home did reach
their peak at the Games.
Eduardus Nabunome and Ruwiyati closed the track program by
winning both marathon golds in men's and women's. Eduardus
clocked two hours 20 minutes and 27 seconds to win the gold while
Ruwiyati finished first by producing 2:46:20.
Compatriot Ester Sumah also contributed a gold in the women's
800m after clocking 2:06.72.
But the sprint events, which were dubbed the most prestigious,
were won by Thailand and Malaysia.
Vissanu Sophanich won gold in the men's 100m dash while
compatriot Vechaphut Worasit won the men's 200m's.
Malaysian mother Shanti Govindasamy surprisingly won both the
100m and 200m golds.
The Indonesian association needs to work harder if stands any
chance of winning any golds in the 13th Asian Games where the
competition will be much tougher than in October.