Shuttlers vie to make the top grade

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta

Standing a diminutive 1.65 meters, Alamsyah has already made his mark as the second ranked men's singles player outside of the national training center.

Yet the 20 year old from Tangkas Bogasari club knows it will be a tall order to move up a level to gain a place among the country's big boys at the training center in Cipayung, East Jakarta.

"I hope I can win one of the slots available for the men's singles," he said on Thursday.

He is aware that the highly competitive environment of the center is the best place to hone his skills and work to become an international caliber player.

"Once we are in the national training center, we need to prove our quality so that we will have a chance to participate in international tournaments," he said.

National trials, held from Feb. 24-March 2, have 56 young shuttlers playing for spots in the men's (above 19) and boys' singles, women's and girls' singles, men's and women's doubles, and mixed doubles categories.

The selection is considered critical for producing future champions and to beef up Cipayung's ranks amid a dearth of top players.

Among the men, there are Taufik Hidayat and Soni Dwi Kuncoro in the men's singles; the men's doubles pairs of Luluk Hadiyanto/Alven Yulianto, Candra Wijaya/Sigit Budiarto and Flandi Limpele/Eng; and Hian and Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir in mixed doubles.

There is little to offer in women's singles and doubles, with no players in the top ranks.

The head of development affairs for the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI), Icuk Sugiarto, said PBSI would choose six shuttlers in men's and boys' singles, four in women's and girls' singles, two each in men's doubles and women's doubles.

In his age group, Alamsyah is competing against five others, including top ranked junior Andre Kurniawan from Djarum Kudus, Central Java.

It will be a second chance at stardom for Andre, who won the singles title at the National Club Championship in Yogyakarta last month.

He was called up to the center in 2003, but let go last year, apparently due to less than satisfactory results.

Another hopeful is Tommy Sugiarto, the 16-year-old son of 1983 World Champion Icuk.

"It's my first experience to participate the national selection, but I will do my best to win it," said the winner of the 2004 ASEAN junior championship and runner up of the 2004 Milo Junior Indonesia Open.

PBSI's talent scouting official Imelda Wiguna said invitations for national selection were given based on achievements and prospects for the future.

"Seventy-five percent of the hopefuls are invited because of their good achievement in 2004, while the remaining 25 percent are players found through PBSI talent scouting."

Variella P in the girls' division and Bandar Sigit Pamungkas in the boys, both from Djarum club, are examples of players found through talent scouting.

"We actually found four to six talented players in boys' and girls' singles respectively, besides those who have good national rankings."

Imelda warned that making it to Cipayung was no guarantee of reaching the top. Players must work hard to improve, or face the consequences.

"If they make no progress, they must take part in the promotion and relegation system in the following year," she said.

Andre is one player who knows that hard reality only too well.