Taufik is back to defend Thomas Cup

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.