Losing Silvi learns a lot from game against Wang Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta 20 October 2003 Silvi Antarini was unable to clinch the Asian badminton championships when she was defeated by Wang Chen in the finals on Sunday, but the 19-year-old Indonesian has not lost hope, looking ahead to her future challenges. Silvi failed to hold against on-form Wang of Hong Kong, losing 11-6, 11-5 in the finals of the US150,000 JVC Asia Badminton Championships at the Bung Karno Indoor Tennis Stadium here. "I am disappointed about losing to Wang, but I shall certainly learn a lot from the game and the championships. I was paired against a top-ranking players here," said Silvi, whose next challenge will be the Hong Kong Open. Despite the defeat, Silvi's march to the finals should augur well for Indonesian badminton, particularly in the women's field, in which Indonesia has been suffering from a title drought since the retirement of Susi Susanti in 1998. Apart from her final run, Silvi did not appear to be jolted by off-court problems, which saw the family home at Tanjung Duren, West Jakarta, among those demolished in a city administration eviction drive earlier this month. The demolition caused not only the disappearance of dozens of trophies she had collected from tournaments but also she was forced, with others, to take shelter in a tent. Her bad luck has made headlines in the local media. Silvi and her family are currently taking shelter in a house provided, free of charge, by a businessman, who is also the patron of her club, Jaya Raya. With prize money of US$4,700, she would probably be able to buy herself a house. However, she said she would not do so yet. "I don't think I will use the money to buy my family a house, because it might offend Pak Ciputra," she said referring to her badminton patron. Silvi said that Ciputra told her not to think about a house at the moment and concentrate only on the championships. "He said that we could live there for at least a year. Beyond that, it would depend on my performance," she said. With the performance she showed during the JVC championships, Silvi need not worry about the awards she is likely to win in the future. Head coach Ivanna Lie reiterated her praise for her prot‚g‚e, saying that Silvi had potential. Currently, Silvi had a deadly chop and good footwork, but she needed to work on her smashes and receipt of short serves from opponents, she said. Ivanna said Silvi would need to train hard to become an elite world player. Facing Wang in Sunday's final, it was obvious that Silvi was one class apart from the world's ranked-fourth player. It appeared that Silvi needed to vary her shots. She might be good at exhausting opponents of their stamina through testing rallies but during the game she was repeatedly caught out by Wang's combination of a long drive with sharp drop shot over the net. However, Ivanna looked optimistic about Silvi. "My target is that Silvi will be among the top 10 world players two years from now," said Ivanna.
