I

n the final of the Sudirman Cup in Jakarta 20 years ago, Indonesia was trailing South Korea after the men's and women's doubles matches were completed, but the host fought back to wrap up the victory.

Before the vociferous support of the home crowd in the Senayan badminton hall, Indonesia was 2-0 down after men's doubles Eddy Hartono and Rudy Gunawan and women's doubles Verawati Fajrin and Yanti Kusmiati lost their matches.

The then rising star Susy Susanti notched up the first score for the team in the third tie, the women's singles, and Eddy Kurniawan ensured the game was still on with his win in the men's singles to make it 2-2 and take the showdown to a decider.

"I realized that if I failed to score, Susy's victory would be meaningless," Eddy told The Jakarta Post, while recalling the daunting moments leading to the 1989 triumph.

After Susy salvaged Indonesia's hopes with a three-game win over Lee Young-suk, Eddy trounced Sun Han-kok 15-4, 15-3.

The salvation provoked more fighting spirit into mixed doubles pair Eddy Hartono and Verawati Fajrin, who ensured the country's victory by defeating Park Joo-bong and Chung Soo-young 18-13, 15-3.

"I felt tense at that moment, but there was no other choice for me than simply to score another point," recalled the shuttler who retired in 1991.

Since 1998, Eddy, now 48, has been running his own business in marketing sports equipment and musical instruments under the brand Top Pro, where he is in charge as the president director of the company, PT Prima Sporta Indotama.

1989 would be Indonesia's first and only glorious moment in the Sudirman Cup to date, with the national team's best performance since then only being runner-up six times.

Eddy, who is also the head of technical development division at the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI), acknowledged the snail's pace of development of the nation's younger shuttlers had taken a toll on the country's poor performance at various international events over the years.

"Compared to other countries, we're slow in recruiting younger talent, while many of the country's former great shuttlers have turned to coaching abroad," he said.

Some of these top shuttlers head overseas once their playing careers are over. Prolific doubles player Rexy Mainaky currently coaches the Malaysian team; the gifted Ardy Wiranata trains the US shuttlers; and Atik Djauhary had coaching stints in Sweden and Denmark.

The players' psychological profile in general, which Eddy points out as the *X' factor, is blamed for the country's poor performance.

"Players these days get complacent far more easily than their predecessors," he said.

"Others are unable to quickly recover from injuries."

The Sudirman Cup was mooted to immortalize Indonesian badminton figure Dick Sudirman.

China has won the cup six times (1995, 1997, 1999, 2001, 2005 and 2007), Korea three times (1991, 1993, 2003). Indonesia reached the finals seven times (1989, 1991, 1993, 1995, 2001 and 2005), but had to be content as also-rans the last six times.

The PBSI is sending a relatively young squad to this year's championship, which will run from May 10 to 17 in Guangzhou, China.

"There are pluses and minuses for the decision, but we have to go with that. On the one hand, with the composition of the squad, we have to face the prospect of losing.

"However, the good thing is the young players will finally obtain precious opportunities to shape up their game at a prestigious international event.

"The experience will definitely be useful for the next events," said Eddy, who also snatched bronze at the 1989 IBF World Championships in Jakarta.

The Indonesian squad is spearheaded by world No. 1 in the men's doubles Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan, and mixed doubles pair Nova Widianto and Liliyana Natsir.

"We have a 50:50 chance of beating the opponents," said Eddy, who had his prime years during the mid to late 1980s.

The winner of the 1990 World Badminton Grand Prix urged Indonesian shuttlers to fancy being the underdogs.

"When one becomes an underdog, it is one's best chance to prove otherwise.