Tension grips shuttlers?

From Kompas

"Badminton Players Were Tense", read the headline in Kompas. The story dealt with the Indonesian Badminton Association's explanation of why the Indonesian badminton team did not perform as expected at the Atlanta Olympic Games.

But why were they tense? Almost all of the Indonesian shuttlers were senior athletes with plenty of experience in international competition. Moreover, they were facing their old opponents. Was it perhaps because they were told that they had to win?

If Indonesia's badminton players were itching to make history by becoming Olympic champions, so did the others, including Bang Soo-hyun, who first beat Susi Susanti and then Mia Audina.

The other players were not tense. And what was Bang Soo-hyun's comment about Susi Susanti? She said she had studied Susi Susanti's technique and tactics on videotape. She noted that her tactics and style never changed, which is one of Susi Susanti's weaknesses. But while an athlete may be eager to win, he or she must also be prepared to lose.

This gives the impression that the management of the badminton team as well as the other Indonesian teams at the Olympic Games was carried out rather unprofessionally. The athletes were not given the non-technical and psychological training that is necessary in competition.

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