RI-China MoU sparks mixed response

A recently signed Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) between the Indonesian Sports Council (KONI) and the Chinese Olympic Committee has received a mixed response from sports associations.

The aim is to better prepare Indonesia’s athletes in the upcoming SEA Games and next year’s London Olympics

The MoU was signed by KONI chief Rita Subowo and Chinese Olympic Committee vice president Yu Zaiqing last week in China. It is expected to open up opportunities for Indonesian athletes to train in the home of the recent Asian Games champions, as well as to help recruit more Chinese coaches.

Nine different sports are prioritized in the agreement: diving, wushu, badminton, gymnastics, weightlifting, table tennis, shooting, boxing and judo.

“PRIMA [Indonesia’s program for top-tier athletes] will visit China’s nine sports federations in February to synchronize our sports programs with their training schedules,” PRIMA chief Tono Suratman said Thursday.

“Between March and June our sports associations will send athletes for training in China,” Tono said.

But, the Indonesia Badminton Association (PBSI) does not see the feasibility of sending shuttlers to China, the world’s badminton powerhouse.

“PBSI was not informed about the MoU. The way I see it, we may exchange shuttlers to compete in the Chinese Badminton League and vice versa in the Indonesian League, but to send our shuttlers to train there is not likely because China is our biggest threat in the upcoming Olympics and the Thomas-Uber Cup,” said PBSI acting head of athlete development Djendjen Djaenanasri.

The Badminton World Federation has set May 2, 2011 to April 29, 2012 as the qualification period for the 2012 London Olympics.

In 2008, Indonesia’s men’s doubles Markis Kido/ Hendra Setiawan grabbed one Olympics gold, while China collected three.

Of the seven gold medals in badminton at the recent Guangzhou Asian Games, the host team won five, Indonesian men’s doubles Kido and Hendra won one and South Korea won another.

The Indonesian Wushu Association had a positive reaction to the agreement, saying it would open up a brighter future for wushu athlete development.

“China is the birthplace of wushu, so there is no better place to learn the martial art,” said Ngatino, secretary general of the Indonesian Wushu Association. “We can benefit from more technical assistance in terms of better coaches and training camps for our athletes with the MoU.”

Ngatino said the taolu (form) teams will be heading to Shanghai and Guangzhou for training in March, prior to November’s SEA Games. The sanshou (fight) team will be welcoming China’s coach and also expects to train in China in June.

China won the most gold medals — 199 — at last year’s Asian Games, nine of which came from wushu. Indonesia failed to win a single gold in wushu, forced to accept a bronze and a silver medal.

At the 2009 SEA Games in Laos, Indonesia collected two golds in wushu, and is aiming for as many as seven golds in the upcoming SEA Games.