M

any have applauded when Indonesia finally became the general champion of the current SEA Games. Organizers took a long deep breath and sat back when the Games finally came to an end, with Indonesia regain the overall champion title that it had lost for 14 years.

However, as an old saying goes, the devil is in the detail and if we want to know whether Indonesia has regained its domination in sport among the other countries of Southeast Asia, then we have to dig deeper.

Becoming the general champion does not explain anything considering the fact that historically almost every host has become the champion at the multi-sporting event.

Some questions arise here: with the overall champion, are we really out of the woods? Is this a resurgence or just a flash in the pan?

The Games itself received many criticisms as Indonesia decided to reduce some events including cue sports, shooting, aerobics, petanque, table tennis and women’s football, while at the same time including new disciplines such as contract bridge, paragliding, roller sports, wall climbing and vovinam. In these sports alone, Indonesia snatched 47 golds and 21 silver medals.

Some of these sports included were considered unpopular by other participating countries and the host took advantage with a clean sweep of 12 golds from roller skating, which made its first appearance in the Games.

The decision has been seen as a strategy to maximize the medal yield and an advantage for the host by introducing new sports that are unpopular to other countries while at the same time cutting down the number of medals for sports that are advantages to other countries.

Indonesia could claimed that this was legitimate and that it was sports diplomacy, as Malaysia also did it when they introduced lawn bowls, netball and petanque in the 2003 Games, or when Vietnam added fin swimming and shuttlecock in 2005 and when the Philippines added arnis in 2003.

The only way to tell if a country has really regained its domination
is if it tops the medal tally at the
next Games.

At the recent Games, Indonesia snatched 13 golds in track and field, 12 golds in roller skating, 10 golds in karate, nine in pencak silat and nine in wall climbing. The highest number of medals Thailand won were in track and field (14), swimming (8), tae kwon do (7), weightlifting (7) and canoeing (5), While Vietnam won the highest number of golds in gymnastic-artistic (11), track and field (9), wrestling (8) and shooting (7).

Achievements in these sports shows the power constellation of sport in Southeast Asia, however it could be a misleading if we do not look at it carefully because four out of five sports where Indonesia collected a total of 40 golds were not Olympic sports: roller skating, karate, pencak silat and wall climbing.

Thailand and Vietnam, the other dominant countries in Southeast Asia, won the highest number of golds in Olympic sports. [See Graph ic]

The numbers of records broken at the Games also declined. Take for example the prestigious track and field. In the 2009 Games, 13 Games records were broken in 45 events with Suryo Agung Wibowo breaking the record in the men’s 100 meters and Triyaningsih breaking the women’s 10,000 record.

While in Palembang, only four Games records were broken in 46 events, with Rini Budiarti the sole host athlete to break the 3,000 meters women steeplechase record.

Even though the number of gold medals won by Indonesia in track and field increased from seven in the 2009 Laos Games to 13 in Palembang, but without setting more new records, how can we be counted as competing at a higher level competition? Thailand, however, is consistent, with 14 golds in track and field at the last two Games.

Increasing in the number of gold medals does not necessary mean a boost in performance. Meanwhile, decreasing numbers of new records definitely shows a decline in overall performance.

In terms of regeneration, the country had many gold medalists over the age of 30, such as 34-year-old karate competitor Umar Syarief, who had been in the national karate squad for 14 years, 30-year-old marathon runner Yahuza or 32-year-old Dedeh Erawati, the two time gold medalist who won silver in the women’s 100 meter hurdles.

Relying on familiar faces in the medal hunt shows how a lack of regeneration has become a serious issue in certain sport disciplines.

Many have described the country achievements as jago kandang, which means that Indonesian athletes are successful on home ground but not elsewhere. In order to prove that this country is not only powerful within Southeast Asia, we need to raise the standard a little bit higher.

In the last five Asian Games since 1994, Indonesia has always finished behind its arch rival Malaysia. In the last four Asian Games, Indonesia always finished behind Thailand, Singapore eclipsed us in 2002, the Philippines and Vietnam passed us in 2006 and even Brunei Darussalam eclipsed us in 2010.

The only glory for Indonesia at the last Asian Games in Guangzhou last year was when the dragon-boat team won the first gold medal on the day eighth of competition and then went on to win two more golds. In a sport that gave three gold medals to Indonesia in Guangzhou, this year’s SEA Games saw no such success repeated, with Indonesia defeated at home by Myanmar on Cipule Lake, West Java. This sport is not going to be featured at next year’s London Olympic Games and might not even feature at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea.

At the Olympic Games, it has been a tradition for Indonesia to expect medals from badminton, weightlifting or archery.

Hopes for the country to bring home gold from London will come from Beijing Olympics bronze medalist Eko Yuli Irawan, who is still contending for another medal change in London, but the glorious era of archery has passed.

The country top shuttlers are now vying to qualify for the London Games. One shuttler needed to secure the Badminton World Federation’s (BWF) rank four by May 3, 2012 in order to give the country the right to send three single shuttlers to the 2012 Olympics. With Simon Santoso currently ranked eighth and veteran Taufik Hidayat at number 11, the country can send two players to the Olympics, with a potential one additional player if either Sony or Taufik reach the rank of fourth in the world by May 3.

There is little hope for the women’s competition, as all of the country’s top women players are ranked lower 40th in the world, which makes it impossible to reach the required rank (16) so that more than two players can compete in the competition.

In the men’s doubles, the pairing of Bona Septano and Mohamad Ahsan is now ranked sixth in the world and mixed doubles pair Ahmad Tontowi and Lilyana Natsir are now number four, which means that if they can hold the rank until May 3, the country can send two pairs to the games.

The current SEA Games ended with euphoria as Indonesia became the overall champion. After the closing ceremony, the organizers even declared that they were optimistic in bidding for the 2018 Asian Games, even though no single evaluation had yet been held.

The euphoria makes us doubt that many, especially sports officials, understand whether we are on the right track to reach a higher level of competition. While the Olympic Games and even the Asian Games are way above the country’s existing achievements, the real test is the next SEA Games. It will define whether we have really become “the leader of the pack” or whether we are still the “also rans.” We’ll see.