[font=Helvetica, Arial]Taufik's allegiance with mentor earns Olympic gold[/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica]Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica]Taufik Hidayat's gold medal success at the Athens Olympics can be attributed to his natural talent, a fierce competitive drive and a desire to prove the skeptics wrong. It also has something to do with his coach.[/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] Arriving in Athens with the odds against him, the 23-year-old Taufik overpowered Shon Seung-mo of South Korea in the badminton men's singles final for the biggest triumph of his career. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] In the tense final, the unseeded Taufik went down 7-1 in the first set before mounting a furious comeback to win the set 15-8. He then cruised to a 15-8 victory in the second game to win the gold. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] To add icing to the Olympic gold, Taufik, whose off-court tantrums and criticism of the country's badminton governing body have often landed him in hot water, chalked up his first win over Peter Gade after six straight losses. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] Taufik beat the Dane 15-12, 15-12 in the quarterfinals, avenging a particularly painful defeat in the All England final in 1999. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] The Olympic gold is undoubtedly the greatest title Taufik has won, following his victories in the Southeast Asian Games in 1999 and the Asian Games in 2002. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] Taufik's rise to Olympic glory was helped a great deal by coach Mulyo Handoyo, a fact the shuttler is ready to acknowledge. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] "My coach understands me best. He has been my greatest motivator and helped me raise my game to a higher level. This gold medal is for my coach," Taufik said during an interview upon his arrival at Soekarno-Hatta International Airport here on Tuesday. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] Two years ago, the Olympic champion threatened to play for Singapore after falling out with the badminton governing body, the PBSI, over the exclusion of Mulyo, who had been with Taufik since 1997, from its coaching list. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] PBSI terminated Mulyo's contract after four years and assigned his assistant, Joko Supriyanto, to take over Taufik's training programs in 2001. Mulyo later moved to Singapore to work as a badminton coach. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] After Mulyo left, Taufik's career became a roller-coaster ride, as he experienced several highs but mostly found his play suffering. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] There were discipline problems and Taufik's open criticism of PBSI officials saw the player banned for three months and excluded from several international tournaments. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] Taufik carried out his threat to move to Singapore but was reunited with Mulyo only for two months before Taufik decided to return to Indonesia with a view to playing in the 2002 Thomas Cup. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] This turned out to be a high point for Taufik, as he helped the Indonesian men's team win the Thomas Cup for fifth consecutive time. However, his form dipped in 2003 and the beginning of 2004, his only victory over this period at the Asian Championship in April. The result was that the once highly regarded Taufik went to Athens unseeded. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] PBSI brought Mulyo back in February this year and the decision paid dividends, with Taufik winning Indonesia's only gold medal in Athens and continuing the country's golden tradition at the Summer Games. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] "Many people criticized me and wrote me off. I was fired up to prove that I am still able to win," said Taufik. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] His Athens victory was redemption for his disappointing campaign four years ago in Sydney. He was then tipped as a favorite after his Thomas Cup winning run, only to crash out in the quarterfinals at the hands of eventual winner Ji Xinpeng of China. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] Born on Aug. 10, 1981, in Pangalengan, a small town in West Java, Taufik began playing badminton seriously at the age of eight. His father, Aris Haris, encouraged him to play badminton instead of soccer, which was his favorite sport. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] He joined badminton club Sangkuriang Graha Sarana in Bandung to develop his skills, where he was coached by Iie Sumirat, a famous shuttler in the 1970s. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] In 1996, Taufik joined the national badminton training center in Cipayung, East Jakarta. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] He was recruited to the center after winning several local tournaments, including the Aqua Trophy Championship, the Aqua Master tournament and the Suryanaga Cup, all in 1996. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] Only one year joining the center, Taufik won the Asia Junior Championship, defeating Chinese shuttler Chen Hong in the final. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] In 1999, he participated in an International Badminton Federation Grand Prix event for the first time, playing in the Brunei Open. He won the tournament, defeating Chinese shuttler Dong Jiong in the final. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] That same year, Taufik, then only 17, made it to the final of the All England Championship, where he lost to Peter Gade. He advanced to the final of the prestigious event again the following year, this time losing to Xia Xuanze of China. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] "My next target is to win the All England Championship and the World Championship next year," Taufik said after returning home from Athens. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] And Taufik knows who he will turn to as he gears up for these future challenges. [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica] "I hope Mulyo will not be replaced. It would be deplorable because he proves that he can give me his best," Taufik said.[/font]
Thanks Eva for giving us greater insights into this unpredictable champion. May he continue to surprise us in more positive ways!
Here is the video Here is the video,the gold madel match. ed2k://|file|E-Badminton-Single(M)-08.21.rmvb|160148108|2C86D9AC6D8862C5E9DAAC9F34FF00C9|/
you're welcome hi guys and girls you're welcome for the article. have u read my profile on sony dwi kuncoro (it was printed on saturday's newspaper) i am making several other profiles of indonesian gold medalists (flandy limpele/eng hian) and also taufik's coach mulyo handoyo. maybe they're scheduled to be printed in teh newspaper somewhere on tuesday/wednesday ps : i am going to palembang, south sumatera for 2 weeks to cover the national games here in indonesia..so sorry if i will be soooooo quiet LOL but i'll try to log on as often as i could. wish me a safe trip
[font=Helvetica, Arial]Mulyo stays in training center, says Icuk [/font] [font=Arial, Helvetica]Sports News - August 26, 2004[/font] [font=Times New Roman, Ms Serif]Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta Taufik Hidayat's Olympic glory has prompted the national badminton training center to retain the champion's coach, Mulyo Handoyo, in what appeared to be an abrupt change in policy, given that Mulyo had initially been excluded from the center's coaching roster. Head of development affairs at the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) Icuk Sugiarto, who also supervises the national training center in Cipayung, East Jakarta, confirmed on Monday that Mulyo would remain as Taufik's personal coach. "We are now thinking of expanding Mulyo's authority to train other men's singles shuttlers, not only Taufik, because it will be such a waste if he's only coaching Taufik in the future," Icuk said. His statement appeared to be a departure from his previous plan to revamp the national training center's management, including reshuffling the coaching teams. The reshuffling plan was to appoint Indra Gunawan the coach of men's shuttlers, Hendrawan for women's shuttlers, while men's doubles would be trained by Christian Hadinata, women's doubles by Atik Djauhari and mixed doubles by Richard Mainaky. The plan would have cost Mulyo his post. "We never planned to replace head coaches at Cipayung. We still need a lot of good coaches who are willing to train shuttlers either there or in other regions," Icuk said. While declining to expound upon his new plan, Icuk said the PBSI would focus more on regional training centers as part of the association's development plan. He said the current Cipayung coach roster would be wiped clean after September's National Games in Palembang, and that only Mulyo and Joko were confirmed as of now to remain on the roster. "We expect Mulyo to create new Taufiks and Joko to cultivate young talented shuttlers like Sony Dwi Kuncoro," Icuk said. Taufik won the gold medal after defeating Shon Seung-mo of South Korea in the men's singles final, while Sony, who trained under Joko, contributed a men's singles bronze. The Indonesian badminton squad won another bronze, courtesy of doubles team Eng Hian/Flandy Limpele. Mulyo said he would let the PBSI decide what was best. Icuk underlined there no Cipayung coach would be let go as of yet. "People who are still coaching at Cipayung will not be fired, as we still need them for our development program. Ideally, we would like one coach to train four or five shuttlers," he said.[/font]
Sony aiming higher after Athens [font=Arial, Helvetica]Sports News - August 28, 2004[/font] [font=Times New Roman, Ms Serif]Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta Sony was beside himself, laying on the floor in exultation after winning. His left hand covered his face as he struggled to hold back tears. Moments later he rose to his feet, clinching his teeth in sheer happiness before shaking hands with his vanquished opponent, Boonsak Polsana of Thailand. As the TV camera panned the stands, a handful of red and white flags were seen waving as spectators cheered him on. It was a playoff for the bronze medal in Athens. It was not an unprecedented performance, as Indonesian badminton players have a plethora of international accolades, including from previous Olympics. Nevertheless, given the medal scarcity (four medals so far) by the Indonesian Olympic contingent, Sony's hard-fought victory was a relief, not only to Indonesian supporters, both inside the Gaoudi Hall in Athens and back home, but particularly to the player himself. "Every shuttler, without a doubt, wants to be a champion in the Olympics. Who wouldn't? It was just that I found it so tough out there. This is the best I could achieve, anyway," Sony told The Jakarta Post by phone after he and other medal winners were received by President Megawati at the State Palace here on Thursday. With the bronze, Sony was making amends for his loss in the semifinals. And that seemed enough to give him a boost to look ahead with optimism. "I'm still young and many international tournaments await my challenge. I will take the challenge and try to give the best in the future," the 20-year-old Sony said. After losing the Asian Championship crown he had held twice and having his Thomas Cup hopes shattered, Sony went to Athens to redeem himself with a high level of confidence. And the East Javanese player beat Moh. Roslin Hashim and Park Tae-sang with his aggressive play to extend his domination in head-to-head meetings with the two. But, Sony's run came to a halt, succumbing to Shon Seung-mo in the semifinals. Disappointed as he was, Sony said was happy with the bronze and his performance overall. "I gave my best performance in those games and my opponents were really good shuttlers so this is the best result that I could give," he said. Sony was born a shuttler, with father Muhammad Sumaji a coach at the Wisma Citra Nusantara badminton club in Surabaya, East Java. He began taking playing formally there when he was just seven and joined the national training center in 2001. As he has aged, he has improved his technique and speed. He was included on the Indonesian men's team for the 2002 Thomas Cup championship for the first time but was not much more than a waterboy as he was not given a chance to play. However, being part of the euphoria of the team's Thomas Cup victory, seemed to fire him up to train harder. In the next Thomas Cup he was the ace of the team as Indonesia's highest ranked singles player, thanks to his impressive runs that earned him a gold at the 2003 Southeast Asian Games and back-to-back Asian championships in 2002 and 2003. Sony may not have won gold, but his Olympic run has given him confidence, and because he is still young he may expect an even better performance in the future. Coach Joko Supriyanto believes Sony will have a remarkable amount of self-confidence after his fine Olympic run. "I think Sony has shown an improved self-confidence given his Olympic performance. That's a good sign, because self-confidence is very important for a shuttler," Joko said. "He seems to be able to convince himself that he can win another game. His medal victory put him among the world's top players. "Hopefully, Sony's confidence will grow, then I can expect him to win the All England and World Championship next year," Joko said. Joko's optimism is not unfounded and Sony should be able to get to the next level of sport's elite, including the next Olympics in Beijing where he should get a chance to convert his bronze to a brighter shade of precious metal.[/font]
