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Pertamina pledges to maintain sponsorship after SEA Games

The Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) signed a Rp 2-billion (US$234,000) sponsorship agreement with state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina on Thursday

Agnes Winarti (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Fri, June 10, 2011

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Pertamina pledges to maintain sponsorship after SEA Games

T

he Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) signed a Rp 2-billion (US$234,000) sponsorship agreement with state-owned oil and gas company Pertamina on Thursday.

The partnership, aimed at bolstering the team’s goal of capturing four gold medals at the Southeast Asian Games (SEA Games) in November, was called an entry point for larger sponsorship opportunities.

“Next year, the PBSI will also face prestigious competitions, including the Thomas and Uber Cups and the Olympic Games. We hope Pertamina will continue supporting us,” PBSI chairman Djoko Santoso said after signing the agreement at PBSI headquarters in Cipayung, East Jakarta, on Thursday.

The national oil and gas company, which currently operates in 12 countries, including Australia, China, and Japan, wants expand its international reach and is hoping to benefit from sponsoring one of the world’s badminton powerhouses.

“We have a commitment to continue and to take part in restoring badminton as part of our national pride,” Pertamina spokesman Mochammad Harun said.

“Our sponsorship of the badminton SEA Games squad is merely an entry point. We will keep reviewing what we can do in the future, which might lead to a larger [sponsorship] for badminton competition events,” he added.

Pertamina’s sponsorship will finance, among other things, preparations for the national elite squad at the Games and at national badminton circuit competitions and to build a sport science lab.

The money, to be disbursed in stages, comprises about 3 percent of the national badminton training camp’s overall annual operational budget of Rp 30 billion.

PBSI head of athlete development Hadi Nazri said a sports science lab was urgently needed and would
be a center of badminton excellence for researchers to develop innovations to help train the national
shuttlers.

“At the moment, our regeneration in the singles sector is stuck, while the doubles sector does not have enough [second or third] layer players. If we can develop our own center of excellence comprised of various sports experts in fields such as athlete nutrition or physical fitness, we would be able to accelerate our current efforts to improve athlete performance,” Hadi said.

Indonesia fulfilled its minimum target by reaching the recent Sudirman Cup world mixed team championship semifinals.

However, disappointment occured on the singles sector, especially the men’s singles, who displayed an obvious lack of fighting spirit and quality plays.

“The singles coaches must keep focusing on PBSI’s key target, which is to prepare the top-tier athletes for the Olympics. Thus, the top athletes need to have sparring partners who are their equals or betters,” Hadi said, adding that he regretted singles coach Li Mao’s absence during an evaluation meeting after the team returned from Qingdao, China, last week.

PBSI’s target this year is to regain its overall champion title at the SEA Games. Two years ago at the Laos SEA Games, Indonesian shuttlers were the overall champions capturing four of the seven golds on offer.

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