Indonesia, once the undisputed king of the shuttle world, has now resigned itself to the fact that it no longer holds the badminton crown, as its stars have clearly shown signs of declining performances.
The results of the recent Indonesian Open in which no home players won a title have further confirmed the waning position.
Malaysia took home two titles, in the men’s singles and women’s doubles, China won the mixed
doubles, South Korea triumphed
in the men’s doubles and India,
much to the surprise of pundits, placed itself in the gold-medal league by the performance of 19-year-old rising star Saina Nehwal who grabbed the women’s singles crown.
Indonesia had only one representative in the finals, Taufik Hidayat, who lost to arch rival Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia, shattering the 2004 Olympic gold medalist’s dream of winning the men’s singles title a record seven times.
All in all, it seems the regeneration process has not been successful for Indonesian badminton. In the men’s singles, the country has continued to rely on Taufik, Sonny Dwi Kuncoro and Simon Santoso for the simple reason that no younger players are capable of taking the baton from the veterans.
Taufik, 28, now playing as a full-fledged professional and no longer a member of the national training camp is still able to flaunt the skill, prowess, mettle and intelligence that won him the Olympic and world championship titles. But it is clear that age has begun to catch up with him.
The younger Sonny and Simon have continued to play in the shadow of Taufik with their inconsistent performances. They are the type of players that play exceptionally well one day, but flop the next. Perhaps this is the first time in decades that Indonesia has suffered from a dearth of quality men’s singles players.
From the 1960s to the late 1990s and early 2000s Indonesia could proudly boast a long list of top internationally ranked men’s singles players, such as Ferry Sonneville, Tan Yu Hok, Eddy Yusuf, Rudy Hartono, Mulyadi, Liem Swie King, Iie Sumirat, Icuk Sugiarto, Haryanto Arbi, Ardi Wiranata, Alan Budikusuma, Hendrawan and Taufik Hidayat.
In terms of skills, there is little difference between those yester stars and current players.
But a sharply contrasting difference is visibly seen when it comes to their fighting spirit and determination. We can recall how Tan Yu Hok, Rudy or King came back from a brink of defeats to score upset victories, thanks mainly to their unwavering and never-say-die spirit.
In the 1950s and 60s Yu Hok, the first Indonesian to win the All England title back in 1959, beating Ferry Sonnevile in the final.
Back then Ferry went to the training hall by bicycle or even on foot, in the 1970s Rudy and King went to training on their motorcycles, while Taufik and company choose to drive luxurious cars.
In the era of Rudy and King, the players did not care too much about cash prizes. For them the pride of donning the national colors was everything that money could not buy. And they did deliver. Taufik and the current players, on the other hand, enjoy lucrative cash prizes and what not, yet the facts show they do not perform as well as their predecessors.
Is this a sign of waning and eroding nationalism on the part of these youngsters, many of whom were born in the 1980s? Badminton, the only sport that has done Indonesia proud by securing Olympic gold medals, is too invaluable a national asset to fall into oblivion.
If Rudy, King and his comrades-in-arms in the 1970s and 1980s could rule the roost in top-flight badminton despite the absence alluring cash prizes, there is no reason why the current shuttlers cannot follow in their footsteps.
The proper training of budding talents and consistent and sustained process of regeneration is one of the key factors that might help Indonesia restore its badminton’s glory days.
The writer is a journalist.
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