T

he nationwide campaign by the Djarum Foundation aiming to find young talents in the sport of badminton can be followed by TV viewers, with KompasTV set to screen a 12-episode Kita Bisa (We Can Do It) program beginning on Sunday.

It is the channel'€™s third session of such a program with the first in 2013 featuring Indonesia'€™s badminton legends and the second taking shots at national athletes from several sports.

'€œThrough Kita Bisa session three, we are looking to try to encourage Indonesian kids having talents in badminton to keep harboring their hopes to become professional Indonesian athletes and play for Indonesia in international tournaments. Many ways are available for them, one of which is by taking part in an audition program held by the Djarum Foundation,'€ program producer Dita Nurmasari said during the program launch in Jakarta on Friday.

The program will be on the screen every Sunday between 2:30 and 3 p.m.

'€œWhile recording their play, this program is rich with inspiring stories and human interest,'€ Dita said.

'€œThere'€™s a kid having to ride with his companion for 10 hours to come to the training place as he prepares for the audition,'€ she added.

Budi Darmawan, program manager of the Bakti Olahraga Djarum Foundation hailed the project, hoping that it would help develop Indonesian sports.

'€œOnly a few television channels in Indonesia will reserve slots for national sports. International sports have more appeal to them. Kita Bisa is expected to be an oasis for the development of national sports,'€ he said.

The Djarum Foundation has held badminton auditions regularly in an effort to find young talents throughout the country.

This year'€™s auditions, from February to June, according to Budi, saw some 2,000 participants in Medan (North Sumatra), Palembang (South Sumatra), Makassar (South Sulawesi), Manado (North Sulawesi, Balikpapan (East Kalimantan), Jember (East Java), Purwokero (Central Java) and Tasikmalaya (West Java).

They play in tournament format, split into age-15 and age-13 categories.

As many as 212 participants qualified for the final election to be held in Kudus, the home base of the Djarum Club, in September when they will join another 1,000 participants. Successful participants will be entitled to the foundation'€™s scholarship.

During last year'€™s auditions, 25 out of 1,400 participants won scholarships.

Hopes are about that the latest recruits from the auditions will be able to become Indonesia'€™s future stars.

The country is still desperate to revive the badminton glory it enjoyed during the 1980s and 1990s, a situation that prompted concern from past star Liem Swie King.

'€œOur performance has been somehow dipping. We have to acknowledge that, but we should not sit back. We can bear more strong players. We have the potential. It'€™s all left to our efforts. We have to scour the regions for talent,'€ said the three-time All England champion.

Heryanto Arbi was Indonesia'€™s last men'€™s singles player to win the All England in 1994.