Taufik is back to defend Thomas Cup

Novan Iman Santosa, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian shuttler Taufik Hidayat decided to return home after his plan to play for Singapore came to an abrupt end after the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) threatened to ban him from playing.

Taufik made the statement during a media conference on Tuesday afternoon at Trans TV private TV station's headquarters following a talk between PBSI officials and their counterparts from the Singapore Badminton Association (SBA) earlier in the day.

"I am glad to be home again. I still want to play for Indonesia and want to defend the Thomas Cup," Taufik told the conference.

"But I just can't do it alone. So I call on my other fellow shuttlers who are still abroad to come home to defend the title," he added.

Taufik, who was part of the team who won the 2000 Thomas Cup, signed a contract with SBA in late January after he resigned last year from the Indonesian Badminton Center (PBI), when Subagyo Hadisiswoyo was chairman.

But Subagyo's successor, Chairul Tanjung, recalled Taufik to the national squad in preparation to defend the Thomas Cup.

PBSI has insisted that SBA should pay a transfer fee for Taufik's migration, which was denied by SBA because there have been no such regulations enforced by the International Badminton Federation (IBF).

Although Taufik said he was happy to be home, it was obvious that he seemed unhappy during the conference.

Also present at the conference were SBA chairman, Wang Kay Yuen, and secretary-general of the Asian Badminton Confederation (ABC) Punch Gunalan of Malaysia, as well as PBSI officials.

Chairul insisted that Taufik's return did not mean that the Singaporean side had lost the battle. Instead, he said, it had prompted both associations to set up a memorandum of understanding on the migration of shuttlers and other matters.

"PBSI also offers its support to SBA in promoting and improving badminton in Singapore," he said. "We can send our coaches and talent to Singapore as sparring partners for Singaporean shuttlers."

"SBA can still recruit our shuttlers to play for Singapore but it must be endorsed by the PBSI."

The MOU was signed during the conference by Chairul and Wang. Gunalan also signed the MOU as a witness on behalf of the ABC.

Meanwhile, Wang said he was happy that everything was settled and hoped that cooperation between both associations would grow beyond the content of the signed MOU.

"We fully support Taufik's decision to return home and also support his campaign to defend the Thomas Cup," he said.

When asked about Taufik's contract with SBA, Wang said it was only to protect Taufik's interests during his stay in the island state.

"It was not a bonding contract because we only want to promote badminton among our children. He would have to go to schools and talk about badminton with the students," he said.

"But it will be up to Taufik whether to continue his duty in Singapore or not."

Meanwhile, Taufik has yet to decide when to resume training, although Chairul asked him to start training on Wednesday.