The newspaper says: “The Indonesian team leaves Birmingham empty-handed after their total failure to reach the final of the 2009 All England Super Series which concluded.” I get used to reading this type of news. I notice that there have been some changes.
Today’s Indonesian badminton athletes are more likely to yell at celebrating any points won, as they have been told by coaches to ease the excitement and “terrify” their opponents. Finally, this way only makes them different with Chinese, South Korean and European athletes.
I’m not saying yelling on the court is bad. I’m only losing low-key athletes like Hendrawan (coach now), Taufik Hidayat or Maria Kristin. I miss the “scream as loud as you can while I try to stay calm and play better than you can” attitude. This used to be our cultural characteristic as people of the East.
I also miss the respect for the opponent. A legendary Indonesian, Rudi Hartono, lifted the shuttlecock and ran it over the net to be caught by his opponent. It has never been passed under the net. When a shuttlecock landed right on Rudi’s playing field, he saw it as his fault. So he was in charge of serving his opponent’s shuttlecock. According to this philosophy, Rudi Hartono is the only one on earth who has won All England eight times. The greatest achievement is never to beat opponents, but to respect them. Even martial arts masters nod about this.
What I miss the most is Indonesia’s achievement. It has been declining, particularly when we look at the statistics for the Olympics. Indonesia has:
Five Barcelona 1992 medals. Two golds (Susi Susanti / single female and Alan Budikusuma / single male), 2 silver (Ardy Bernardus Wiranata / single male and Eddy Hartono-Rudy Gunawan / double male) and 1 bronze (Hermawan Susanto / single male) ).Oven Atlanta 1996 medals. One gold (Ricky Subagja-Rexy Mainaky / male double), 1 silver (Mia Audina / female single) and 2 bronzes (Susi Susanti / female single and Denny Kantono-Antonius Iriantho / male double).
Three Sydney 2000 medals. One gold (Tony Gunawan-Candra Wijaya / men’s double) and 2 silver (Hendrawan / men’s singles and Tri Kusharyanto-Minarti Timur / mixed double).
Three Athena 2004 medals. One gold (Taufik Hidayat / men’s single) and 2 bronzes (Sony Dwi Kuncoro / men’s single and Eng Hian-Flandy Limpele / men’s double).
Three Beijing 2008 medals. One gold (Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan / men’s double), 1 silver (Nova Widianto-Lilyana Natsir / mixed double) and 1 bronze (Maria Kristin / women’s single).
This brings me to another missing link with the viewer. I mean, decreased achievement, decreased enthusiasm from viewers.
Once upon a time, the union and the militancy of the Indonesian sympathizer was so tough. It doesn’t matter that the other team’s fan was older, we were always the most sensational in the stadium. Singing together, shouting when excited, cheering even in the middle of the play. Something that can hardly be found in a tennis, table tennis, beach volleyball or even badminton show when it doesn’t involve the Indonesian team.
The first thing the Indonesian did after entering the stadium was to hear the typically Indonesian shout from where. Then they would sit there. You know, fans never scream sporadically.
What if they didn’t meet? No problem. They would.
It seems that the Indonesian supporters were the only mob that systematically planned everything to support their badminton players. Few men would volunteer to lead and teach the crowds the songs. Suddenly everyone was ready to light up the stadium.
My French friend was thrilled to experience the atmosphere of that stadium himself. In fact, he didn’t know he was into badminton until the camera caught him sitting in the grandstand of one of Jakarta’s badminton stadiums. I was watching the game live on television, so I recognized it.
A few days later, we met. “It was crazy!” He said in French: “Every move by Taufik Hidayat invited applause. Like Zinedine Zidane when he showed his skill on the field in recent days. They sang, they shouted. For a moment, I thought I was in a football stadium. So fuss . Your parents … they were totally crazy! But I loved being there. “
Yes, me too, François.
So have the other badminton giants. Ask the Chinese coach which team he wants to face in the final when Indonesia becomes host. You will get the obvious answer: Indonesia! The uproar of the spectators is always a challenge for strong teams. Also, I think this fuss makes the game of badminton more interesting and more popular.
What can I say. I just hope that the militancy and “heroism” of the Indonesian badminton culture does not diminish. For the popularity of this sport as well. *