N

ational tennis fans are no stranger to the name of Yayuk Basuki, the woman who broke into top 20 in singles and the top 10 for doubles in the WTA’s rankings in her heyday. Her achievements, which include winning a gold at the 1998 Asian Games, have led Yayuk to be hailed as a tennis icon. Contemporary players have yet to equal her and are still struggling, even in regional tournaments. The incoming chairman of the Indonesian Tennis Association (PELTI), Wibowo Suseno “Maman” Wirjawan, shared his views with The Jakarta Post’s Mustaqim Adamrah in a recent interview about his hopes and future goals for the organization as the nation looks desperate to produce another world-caliber star. Below are excerpts of the interview.

Question: Why did you run to lead PELTI?

Answer: I have been involved in sports since I was in school and once made a university basketball league. I was involved in rowing and basketball when I heard that there was a vacant position at PELTI.

I thought I could help PELTI, which is in a class of its own compared to other sports, because it has been well-exposed internationally. We have a history we can be proud of, with past stars such as Dede Suhendar, Lita Sugiarto, Lany Kaligis, Yayuk Basuki and Yustedjo Tarik. They were all champions.

From that point, we can see that we actually have the confidence to take part in things internationally.

We don’t have such pride in another sport, like soccer, for example. We keep losing in soccer. What we have to do for the nation in tennis will need support from the private sector, the government and individuals. It won’t work without the involvement of multiple parties.

Although you’ve just taken office, a big issue awaits: PELTI’s Rp 9 billion [US$934,578] debt incurred under the tenure of previous chairwoman Martina Widjaja. What’s your response?

I haven’t seen the terms and conditions in the document about the debt agreement between PELTI and Bu Martina — whether it should be paid in 10 years, 20 years or 40 years.

How did you decide to get involved with sports, considering your high-level background at upstream oil and gas regulator BPMigas, Ancora and a container company?

Sports have always been part of my life. I swim. I used to play tennis, too. I played in the Thamrin Cup [International Junior Championships] in 1980s.

I stopped playing tennis because of an injury. I had to undergo surgery for a hernia in 1992.

I believe that I have management skills that may be useful for the development of PELTI. I can manage lots of people […] I can manage finance […] I can manage many things, including different stakeholders with different backgrounds.

Your younger brother, Trade Minister Gita Wirjawan, was elected Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) chief in September and now you’re the PELTI chairman. Are you following in your brother’s footsteps?

Not at all. We never talked about this at home. Gita never told me he was going to run for the PBSI chairmanship.

We do have passion for sports management. Gita has a golf school; I managed rowing and basketball. It’s just a coincidence.

Indonesia had big names in tennis in the past, including Yayuk Basuki, Romana Tedjakusuma, Angelique Widjaja and Wynne Prakusya. What will you do to bring about the return of those glory days?

We shall start with recruitment by identifying the country’s best 500 tennis players aged 12 to 16. Bandung [West Java], Yogyakarta, Balikpapan [East Kalimantan] and Riau have tournaments. We can start there to find the best 50 seeds through talent scouting.

The monitoring must be consistent to see how stable the athletes are. In one game next January, an athlete may be ranked 10th and then ranked fifth in June or even lower at 20th. We need to see their stability.

Shrinking the number from 500 to 50 and then to five will need time, at least one or two years. Then we’ll have to send them abroad for maybe two or three years, depending on the needs of each person, to expose them to world’s tennis.

Or we can make them compete in international tournaments held here. It’s cheaper here.

We need to have the right program for our athletes, whether by summoning a foreign coach, or sending them abroad.

But this will require sponsors. It has to be a long-term commitment. It cannot be just one or two years, but has to be five years. And we have to convince the sponsors not to support the champions only.

It needs at least 10 years to develop an athlete’s physique and technique, starting from training them how to run and how to play tennis well.

What is your target in heading PELTI?

The Junior Grand Slam Championship. We need to convince parents that their kids will have brighter future and better education if the kids play tennis well and have great achievements, starting from the junior level.

It will be easier for a junior grand slam champion to get a scholarship in a developed countries, like the United States, or if a junior tennis player is ranked, say, 100 in the ITF junior rankings. Those countries appreciate outstanding tennis players more than Indonesia.

It will be up to them then whether to continue their tennis careers or to go to university. But at least, we would already have a junior grand slam champion.

We also have to help them [improve their off-field skills] by providing them with English, mathematics and public speaking lessons.

I have yet to discuss the best formula for this with relevant experts, but the concept is very much like that.