DENPASAR, Nusa Bali
At the end of 2021, the badminton world was surprised by the success of Singaporean Loh Kean Yew, 24, who established himself as the prestigious men’s singles champion at the world championships in Huelva, Spain.
Prior to winning the tournament titled “BWF World Championships 2021”, Loh Kean Yew also won the Hylo Open 2021, Dutch Open 2021 and Thailand Masters 2019. In addition, Loh Kean Yew was also a finalist in several badminton tournaments. , such as Indonesia: Open 2021, Russian Open 2019, Hyderabad Open 2019 and Swedish Open 2019.
It was not just the men from Singapore who made an incredible leap at the world championships in Huelva. Another ASEAN country, Thailand, also won the mixed doubles world title for the first time, thanks to the Dechapol Puavaranukroh / Sapsiree Taerattanachai duo.
The success of Dechapol / Sapsiree is hardly surprising. Because they are the first mixed doubles pair in the world. This Thai pair have already won three titles at the Indonesia Badminton Festival (IBF) in Nusa Dua, South Kuta district, Badung, from November 16 to December 5, 2021: Indonesia Masters, Indonesia Open and BWF World Tour Finals 2021. The best pair of ‘Indonesia, namely Praveen Jordan / Melati Daeva Oktavianti.
Southeast Asia’s badminton success record this year was also marked by Indonesia’s success in winning the 2020 Thomas Cup, a symbol of supremacy in the men’s team championship. Indonesia won after crushing China 3-0 in the final match in Denmark in August 2021. Unfortunately, in the Uber Cup championship, a symbol of the supremacy of women’s team badminton, Indonesia was stranded in quarter-final after being beaten 2-3 by Thailand. The Thai team themselves ultimately failed in the semi-finals, after being beaten by China 0-3.
The success stories of Singaporean and Thai players breaking through the ranks of world players cannot be separated from the cold hands of Indonesian coach Mulyo Handoyo. This former trainer, Taufik Hidayat, played a major role in polishing Loh Kean Yew. Previously, Mulyo Handoyo had managed to bring Taufik Hidayat to a gold medal at the Athens Olympics in 2004. Mulyo Handoyo also managed to produce the best Indian players, such as Kidambi Srikanth, Saina Nehwal and PW Sindu.
Besides Mulyo, other Indonesian coaches Rexy Mainaky and Nunus Soebandoro also successfully dressed the Thai players. Now Rexy will return to Malaysia, while Mulyo will return to India. On the other hand, Rexy’s younger brother, Riony Mainaky, also managed to restore prestige to Japan thanks to Kento Momota cs, before returning to his homeland.
In fact, at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, the badminton match became a “battle” event for Indonesian coaches. According to former Indonesian badminton star Hariyanto Arbi, the success of players cannot be separated from the greatness of their coach. Currently, he said, there are at least 25 badminton coaches from Indonesia spread across 12 countries.
Indonesian badminton coaches abroad are, among others, Hargiono (in Luxembourg), Wisnu Haryo Saputra (Italy), Teguh Santoso (Finland), Indra Bagus Ade Chandra (Belgium), Vidre Wibowo and Agus Miming (France), Teddy Setiadi, Ro -nni Rontolalu, and Sandiarto (Canada), Tinton Gustaman (Switzerland), Muammar Qadafi (Guatemala, Peru), Harmono Yuwono (Japan), Victor Wibowo (Taiwan), Mulyo Handoyo (Singapore, India), Edwin Iriawan , Dwi Setiawan, Agus Dwi Santoso (India), Trikusuma Wardhana (China) and Nunung Soebandoro (Thailand).
“Several others are training in Malaysia, such as Indra Wijaya, Hendrawan, Paulus Firman and Flandy Limpele. However, it could be more than that,” said Hariyanto Arbi, 1993 and 1994 men’s singles title holder, who won Indonesia wins the Cup. Thomas 1994, 1996 and 1998.
Meanwhile, some of the best world players from Indonesia in the 1980s who also coached abroad, among others, Ardy B Wiranata, Tony Gunawan, Fung Permadi and Minarti Timur. Today, Ardy B Wiranata is the head coach in Canada, while Fung Permadi has coached in Taiwan and Tony Gunawan in the United States.
Meanwhile, legendary trainer Tong Sin Fu, 78, moved his nationality to China to give birth to world champion players like Lin Dan and the pair Cai Yun / Fu Haifeng. Then Atik Jauhari traveled to various countries after resigning from the National PBSI Training Center in 2006, such as Sweden, Thailand and India.
Many Indonesian coaches deal with badminton teams from other countries or foreign clubs, which indicates that their quality has been recognized by the world. From India to Guatemala, from Mauritius to Malaysia, many names of Indonesian coaches are involved.
To see Indonesian coaches succeed with foreign players should be celebrated as a testament to their genius. However, there is still sadness, because the success of the Indonesian coach means the success of players from other countries. In fact, Indonesia is no longer the center of global badminton power. At the IBF 2021 event in Nusa Dua, Indonesia’s achievements were less classy than Thailand. Imagine, of the 15 titles contested in the three world-class tournaments in Nusa Dua, Indonesia could only win one title thanks to the pair Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo / Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (at the Indonesian Open ).
In the Indonesia Masters and BWF finals, Kevin / Marcus lost to Japanese doubles Takuro Hoki / Yugo Kobayashi. Meanwhile, the women’s doubles champion at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics, Greysia Polii / Aprianti, has not won a single title at Nusa Dua. After passing the final round of the 2021 Indonesian Open, they were defeated by their opponent. Compare that with Thailand, who won 3 IBF 2021 titles at Nusa Dua in mixed doubles.
Indonesia also failed miserably in the 2021 Sudirman Cup championship (symbol of global mixed-team badminton supremacy). Indonesia were beaten by Malaysia 2-3 in the quarterfinals. Meanwhile, during All England 2021, Indonesian players were banned from showing up and quarantined in hotels during the championship, due to the same plane with a Covid-19 patient.
The series of failures of Indonesian players could be due to the fact that the power of global badminton is starting to spread. So, the question arises, why are Indonesian coaches who succeed abroad not part of the effort to achieve badminton glory in Indonesia?
Besides this feeling of nationalism, there is actually a higher ideal: to create sustainable badminton in all corners of the world. In addition, there is hope to improve the quality of life in the world of sport (badminton) for players and coaches. Yes, this is where Indonesia has an obligation to sow the seeds of power (badminton) in the world. *
Budi Harminto
Journalist from Nusa Bali
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