Taufik Hidayat worried over the decline of badminton in Indonesia – Badminton News
Indonesia’s Men’s Singles ace shuttler, Taufik Hidayat, who is also a former Olympic and World Champion, is troubled with the gradual decline of the game in the country.
The poor performance of Indonesian male shuttlers in the Singles category in last month’s Sudirman Cup 2011, has made Hidayat quite upset.
Taufik skipped the Sudirman Cup to give a chance to young shuttlers to prove their worth and gain experience in the biggest mixed team event in the world of badminton. However, the pathetic run of their players has worried Hidayat regarding the future of
the game in Indonesia, which is regarded as one of the great power-houses of badminton.
The Indonesian legend is also troubled with the fact that the event of the 2012 London Olympics is just one year away and the quivering performance of Indonesian shuttlers in the Men’s Singles category indicates that their chances to win the title in the
event are quite meagre.
While talking about male shuttlers in the Sudirman Cup, Taufik said, "The young players did not show the fighting spirit during the Sudirman Cup, and I?m upset.”
In the Men’s Singles world rankings, Taufik is the only Indonesian shuttler who comes in the top ten standings. There is no other Indonesian shuttler in the Men’s Singles category at the moment, who could win any major international event by beating top
shuttlers form China, Malaysia, Denmark and Korea.
Taufik said, “Can you tell me which Indonesian is in the top 10 ranking besides me? I really hope somebody can replace me once the Olympics come along.”
In the Sudirman Cup, only Simon Santoso of Indonesia managed to win his match against Vladimir Ivanov of Russia. In the rest of the games, no Indonesian could win in the Men’s Singles category. In the semi-final, Indonesia failed to produce a performance
against Denmark and lost the match.
While talking about the poor run of Indonesian male shuttlers, Hadi Nasri, an official of the Indonesian Badminton Association, said, “The players said they lacked focus during the preparation for the event, so they didn’t play well in China. But we have
to fix this immediately.”
Hadi also added that the players should work hard to improve their physical fitness, which will enable them to give a tough time to their senior opponents. While talking about the re-generation programme for players, Hadi said that officials will observe
the improvement of shuttlers on a continuous basis.
Indonesia is one of the most dominant nations in the world of badminton, as the country has never missed the opportunity of winning a gold medal in the Olympic Games since 1992. However, the current performance of Indonesian shuttlers is quite alarming and
their chances to win the gold medal in the 2012 London Olympics do not seem that strong.
Tags: