Young shuttlers to join Milo tournament
Sudibyo M. Wiradji, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
At least 600 promising badminton players from 12 countries are expected to take part in the fourth Milo Junior Indonesia Open that will be held in July in Medan, North Sumatra.
The fourth MJIO will be officially opened by North Sumatra Governor Tengku Rizal Nurdin on July 21 and will run for five days at the Pardede Sports Hall.
"This year's MJIO is expected to be more appealing than before because the participating countries will also include those renowned for their badminton dominance, such as China, Malaysia, Korea and Japan," said Mien Susanti, managing director of PT Gematama Kreasindo, the organizer of the badminton championships.
China, which canceled its participation in last year's MJIO due to the outbreak of Severe Acute Respiratory Syndrome (SARS), has confirmed its participation in the upcoming event.
Indonesia will send 14 promising young players to the annual badminton event, most of whom are in the top ranks of the badminton ratings issued by the International Badminton Federation (IBF).
Meanwhile, Malaysia, Korea and Japan, which sent only between six and eight players to last year's MJIO, will field more than 12 shuttlers. Other countries to take part in the event are Sri Lanka, Singapore, Hong Kong and Belgium.
"This is an indication that the MJIO does not only attract local but also foreign players. Both local and foreign players see the MJIO event as an important step in their future badminton careers," she said.
Former winners of the MJIO have notched up impressive achievements in their respective countries. For instance, Jung Fun Ha, the first winner of the Women's Doubles at the MJIO 2003 was selected to participate in the country's badminton team for the Uber Cup competition, which was held simultaneously with the recent Thomas Cup.
Mien, the daughter of the late Indonesian women's badminton star and the initiator of the Milo tournament, Minarni Sudaryanto, said that the Indonesian participants in this year's event would comprise promising players from the national training camp, local badminton clubs and winners of the school badminton league.
The players, however, would have to go through the qualification matches that will be held on July 19 and July 20 in Jakarta before being selected to participate in the event, which offers a total cash prize of US$11,000 to the winners of the boys and girls singles, doubles and mixed doubles.
Compared to other world junior badminton championships, the MJIO is the most lucrative in prize-money terms. The French International Open, held on March of this year, for instance, provided US$10,000 in cash prizes.
Mien said that the MJIO had been held annually since 2001 with the objective of providing an opportunity for Indonesian under-19 badminton players to gain international match experience.
The MJIO has become an important badminton championship eagerly awaited by Indonesian junior players. "The MJIO has been included in the important match calenders of the IBF and the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI)," she said.
Meanwhile, Christian Hadinata, a former Indonesian badminton star who won a slew of trophies in his heyday in the 1970s and 1980s, highlighted the importance of the MJIO for the development of badminton in Indonesia.
Christian, the senior couch of the Indonesian national team in the recent Thomas Cup, said that the MJIO had shown itself capable of producing promising and talented players.
Former tournament champions, such as Sony Dwi Kuncoro, Silvi Antarini, Andrianti Firdasari and Simon Santoso, all went on to record impressive achievements in their badminton careers. Sony, for instance, got to the Thomas Cup final in 2004 and beat famous international player Peter Gade of Denmark.
"The MJIO provides a good opportunity for local junior players to gain international experience. Certainly, the badminton tournament has had a good effect on the training and coaching of young badminton players," said Christian, currently the director of the PBSI's national training center.
Retno Kostijah, the winner of the women's doubles in the All England badminton championships in 1968, shared Christian's view, saying that the MJIO served as a medium for identifying new Indonesian badminton talent.
Through the MJIO, local players could compare their skills against those of players from other countries. "Thus, the MJIO can provide a stimulus for players from different regions to make further achievements in the sport," she said.
The Milo badminton championship was first held in 2001, and was established at the initiative of former Indonesian badminton star Minarni Sudaryanto, now deceased.
The Milo championship was established to replace the Bimantara World Junior Badminton Tournament which was halted in 1997 due to the country's financial crisis.
Minarni secured the involvement of PT Nestle Indonesia, the producer of Milo, a chocolate energy drink, and the PBSI, the country's highest badminton institution, in organizing the event
"Since 2001, Nestle Indonesia has consistently been the main sponsor of the MJIO," Mien said.
From year to year, the MJIO has grown in terms of participant numbers. The first MJIO, which was held in Surakarta, Central Java in 2001, was participated in by only two foreign countries -- Brunei Darussalam and Japan. However, more foreign countries took part in the event in the following years.
In 2002, the MJIO was held in Surabaya, East Java, with a total of 320 players participating, of whom 29 were foreign players from six countries. The following year, the MJIO was held in Yogyakarta, Central Java, with a total of 400 players participating, of whom 100 were foreign players from eight countries.