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AKARTA: The Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) will pay out Rp 1 billion (US$112,000) in cash rewards to badminton players who win medals at the London Olympic Games in 2012, PBSI secretary-general Jacob Rusdianto said Wednesday.

Jacob said the association was grooming 25 shuttlers to compete at the sporting event. He said national players and club players would be eligible to receive the money.

“Personally, I don’t want to treat those trained in the national training camp and clubs differently. In reality, Alvent, Vita, Kido and Hendra practice together at Cipayung [training camp],” Jacob said as quoted by kompas.com.

Jacob was referring to Alvent Yulianto Chandra, Vita Marissa, Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan, who have all left the national training center to turn pro.

Indonesian badminton players first grabbed gold at the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, with Susy Susanti and Alan Budikusumah winning the women’s singles and men’s singles events, respectively.

In Atlanta 1996, Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky won the men’s doubles, and Tony Gunawan and Candra Wijaya won the men’s doubles in Sydney 2000. — JP