The Jakarta Globe 30 December 2008 Ami Afriatni 2008 Another Golden Year for Badminton Badminton, one of Indonesia’s most popular sports, gave the country some of its best showings in international competition in 2008. The year’s schedule included international tournaments, the Badminton World Federation Super Series — top-level tournaments with only the world’s top 60 players given direct entry — and the 2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing. Indonesia continued its Olympic gold medal tradition, which started when badminton first became a medal sport at the 1992 Barcelona Games. Alan Budikusuma and Susi Susanti started the run with men’s and women’s singles gold medals in 1992, and Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan kept the tradition alive with a gold medal in the men’s doubles in Beijing. The world’s No. 1 pair enjoyed a successful 2008, winning Super Series titles in Malaysia, China, Denmark and France to go with their Olympic title. “This has been a great year for us, and Olympic gold will surely be the highlight of our career,” Markis said. “We need to set our priorities, and right now the priority is to be 2009 All England champion,” Markis added. The All England is the most prestigious Super Series tournament, and the last Indonesians to win there were Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto in the men’s doubles in 2003. The Beijing Games also gave a glimmer of hope to Indonesia’s women’s shuttlers. Maria Kristin Yulianti won bronze in the women’s singles, the country’s first medal in that event since the 1996 Olympics in Atlanta. Prior to the Olympics, Maria helped the Indonesia women to a runner-up place in the Uber Cup, a pleasant surprise for a team that initially aimed for the semifinals. Maria also finished second in the Indonesia Open after coming through the qualifying round. Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir also brought home Olympic medals, winning silver in the mixed doubles. That was a bit of a disappointment, though, as the duo came in ranked No. 1 in the world before losing to South Korea’s Lee Yong Dae and Lee Hyo Jung in the final. The result was indicative of Nova and Lilyana’s year. Despite reaching several finals, the duo only won one title, the Singapore Super Series in June. Sony Dwi Kuncoro and Simon Santoso spent the year trying to overtake men’s singles star Taufik Hidayat. Sony looked the brighter star after winning Super Series titles in Indonesia, Japan and China, while Simon’s best efforts saw him finish second in Singapore and Indonesia. Off the court, 2008 was a year of change for the Indonesia Badminton Association, or PBSI. Armed Forces Chief Gen. Djoko Santoso was elected PBSI president on Nov. 15, succeeding Sutiyoso after former badminton great Icuk Sugiarto withdrew his candidacy. Djoko, who has never been involved with badminton before, will likely have money concerns as his top priority. PBSI ran out of funds in 2008, forcing it to close down the national training camp in November and stop covering players’ travel expenses for international events. Athletes had to pay their own way to the final two Super Series events in Hong Kong and China. They received a lifeline, though, when China withdrew its athletes from the Masters Finals in Kinabalu, Malaysia, and the BWF covered the expenses of the athletes who filled those spots at the last minute. Of the 11 Indonesian players who ultimately took part in the Masters Finals, only two pairs reached their respective finals, with both ultimately losing. Looking back at the year, Indonesia national team coach Christian Hadinata said it would take hard work to dominate the sport again. “We haven’t given enough attention to our junior [players’] development,” he said. “We need to reform our training system and give them more opportunities to compete on an international level.” Besides the 12 Super Series tournaments, the highlights for 2009 include the Sudirman Cup — the world mixed team championship — in May, and the World Badminton Championship in August. Christian said Indonesia’s target was the Sudirman Cup final. After winning the inaugural Sudirman Cup in 1989, Indonesia has never won the biennial championship again.
