PBSI faced with 'burden' of preparing for London

Despite the results of one gold, silver and bronze medal from the 2008 Beijing Olympics, improvement is still needed especially in recruitment and training at the national badminton center.

The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) chairman Sutiyoso said the body has targeted to keep the "gold medal tradition" at the quadrennial event.

"It's quite a burden. We relied (our medal hopes) on the men's and mixed doubles. Having two pairs as finalists was extraordinary," he said here Sunday.

Indonesia won a gold from the men's doubles duo Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan and a silver from the mixed doubles pair Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir.

Sutiyoso also praised Maria Kristin Yulianti's success in winning the bronze in the women's singles event. The 23-year-old is the third Indonesian women's singles player to win a medal in the event after Susy Susanti (gold in 1992 and bronze in 1996) and Mia Audina (silver in 1996).

"Her target was only the quarterfinals. But she progressed beyond that, much to our surprise. She deserves to be called a giant killer," he said.

Sutiyoso said the PBSI would improve its recruitment system especially by setting a minimum height for female players of 165 centimeters.

"One of the obstacles is that our female shuttlers are short, far shorter than the Chinese players, whose average height is over 170cms," he said.

"We have also changed from the old style of training at the badminton center, that women players should be coached by women coaches. We called in Hendrawan to coach them," said Sutiyoso. Hendrawan was the 2000 Olympics silver medalist and 2001 world champion.

Head coach Christian Hadinata said that the PBSI must now focus on preparing younger shuttlers to compete for the 2012 London Olympics.

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Medals boost KONI's hopes for 2012
The National Sports Council (KONI) is hoping to send 50 athletes to the 2012 Olympic Games in London and boost Indonesia's overall performance in the medal tally at the quadrennial event.

The medals earned in badminton and weightlifting at the 2008 Beijing Olympic Games proved that national athletes could perform at an international level, KONI chairwoman Rita Subowo said at Indonesian Independence Day celebrations here on Sunday.

"In future, we hope to send not just shuttlers and lifters but athletes from other areas," she said.

"The highly prestigious 2009 and 2011 SEA (Southeast Asian) Games ... and 2010 Asian Games will be like stepping stones (to the Olympics in London)," she said.

Indonesia sent 24 athletes to compete in seven sporting events in Beijing. So far the team have earned one gold, one silver and three bronze medals.

Indonesia has consistently won gold medals since badminton was first featured at the Olympics in 1992, while for weightlifting the country has continually earned silver and bronze since 2000.

Rita, who is also a member of the International Olympic Committee, said KONI had asked the government to provide sports facilities at school and university campuses.

"For the time being, we have a working agreement with the University of Indonesia (UI) under which KONI has been given a seven hectare plot of land at its Depok campus," Rita said.

"This land will be used to house an athlete village, a sports science center, a library and other facilities."

Some universities in Beijing -- including Beijing University of Technology, Peking University and China Agricultural University -- have gymnasiums of an international standard which could be used to host sporting events for the Olympics, Rita said.

KONI signed a memorandum of understanding with UI to allow top athletes to enroll in tertiary education courses.

"They can choose to study in one of the 12 faculties," Rita said.

She also highlighted the importance of education for athletes, because many had to quit school due to a tight training schedule.

"We will begin to provide scholarships for students with good sporting achievements. Hopefully this will boost students' motivation to become athletes," she said.

KONI has also announced an annual national competition for 15 prioritized sports -- including track and field, swimming, badminton and soccer -- for elementary, junior and high school students.

"In doing so, we hope to net talented young athletes because we need to prepare for the Youth Asian Games next year, and the 2010 Youth Olympic Games.

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Badminton secured until 2016 Olympics
Indonesia heaved a sigh of relief after the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Secretary-General, Stuart Borrie, confirmed that the shuttlecock sport would still feature in the Olympic Games, at least until 2016.

Speaking to journalists late Sunday, Borrie expressed his confidence that badminton would remain an interesting sport to watch at the Olympics, although, he said, there were some 33 points for evaluation.

"Among the items that we need to improve is wider television and media coverage, which is very important. We can start from badminton shows on TV where they broadcast stars and sporting heroes," he said.

According to Borrie, the television rating for badminton increased during the Olympic Games from 24th in Sydney 2000 to 14th in Athens 2004.

"Badminton is a fantastic sport to watch. Even the IOC (International Olympics Committee) President Jacques Rogge was impressed with the sport's speed and agility," he said.

However, IOC member Rita Subowo, who is also the Indonesia's National Sports Council (KONI) chairwoman, said that the staging of the sport still needed improvement.

"The scoring system now is already good. But the packaging of the sport needs to be more attractive," she said.

"I talked to the BWF officials and I suggested they start with a reform in the athletes' uniform. The jerseys used by shuttlers are so boring," she added.

She compared the clothes used by Rudy Hartono in the 1980s when winning the All England eight times, to today's Olympics. There have been some changes in the women's costume design by making skirts and sleeveless shirts as for the men players.

Badminton has become the main gold medal hope for countries like Indonesia and Malaysia, which are not superior in individual sports like track and field, swimming and gymnastics.

Indonesia has always won golds since badminton first featured in 1992.

Borrie said the decision whether badminton would still be included at the 2020 Games would be taken in 2013.

He also said another important thing to improve was the development program for the sport.

"We have 16 shuttlers from South America, the eastern part of Europe and Africa who qualified to compete at this Olympics but two could not get to the Olympics. They trained at our world training center in Saarbrucken, Germany.

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ASEAN contingents struggle at Olympics

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BEIJING -- Michael Phelps'
eight gold-medal swims were all magnificent. But the world needs lists, so we're here to rank his great haul of China from most memorable to least:


100-meter butterfly

1. Yes, this was the only race in which Phelps did not set a world record -- but what he did to reach the wall first was the stuff of legends. Apparently beaten by Milorad Cavic in the final meters, Phelps somehow squeezed in a rapid-fire final arm stroke to touch and win by one-hundredth of a second. Still-frame photos show Cavic inches from winning before Phelps made up ground and splashed in at the last instant. The fact it was his seventh gold, tying Mark Spitz's Olympic record and securing a $1 million bonus from Speedo, didn't hurt

2. 400 freestyle relay
It's hard to find good help nowadays -- unless you're Michael Phelps, and you need a relay mate to perform a miracle on your behalf. That would be anchorman Jason Lezak, who roared back from a considerable deficit in the final 50 meters to stun Frenchman Alain Bernard by .08 seconds. Phelps certainly did his part, leading off the relay by swimming what at the time was the third-fastest 100 freestyle in history -- in an event that's far from his specialty.

3. 400 individual medley
This was Phelps' first swim of the Games, and the pressure on him to perform was undeniable. Not only was he the centerpiece of the pre-Olympic hype, but President George W. Bush was in the stands to watch. Phelps delivered and then some, smashing his own world record and crushing fellow medalists Laszlo Cseh and Ryan Lochte.

4. 200 butterfly
Phelps said this was the only swim that disappointed him, because he expected to swim much faster. But the fact that he broke his own world record after his goggles leaked only adds to the Phelps mythology. He said he was basically swimming while blind, guessing at where the wall was on his turns. Who needs to see to win gold? Not Phelps.

5. 200 freestyle
Phelps only qualified fourth-fastest for the final, but he wasted no time in burying his competition. Phelps exploded to a fast start and led the entire race, leaving runner-up Park Tae-hwan of Korea and bronze medalist Peter Vanderkaay of the U.S. in his wake. Phelps easily broke his own world record and won by 1.89 seconds.

6. 200 individual medley
Phelps beat Cseh and Lochte the same way he beat them in the 400 IM -- with a strong breaststroke leg that gave him separation leading into the final 50 meters of the freestyle. Whereupon he broke his own world record, of course. The impressive thing is the fact that Phelps' only "weak" stroke is the breaststroke. Turning that into his secret IM weapon only further validated his astonishing versatility.

7. 800 freestyle relay
This was an American tour de force, led off by Phelps. He gave the Yanks a huge, 2.6-second lead, and the rout was on. They wound up winning by three seconds and smashing their own world record, on a day when Phelps had to swim two finals.

8. 400 medley relay
The final swim of the meet, and of the Phelps program, was highly anticipated but largely anticlimactic. The American relay was pushed, but led fairly comfortably for the final 125 meters. Phelps took the Americans from third to first during his butterfly leg, then watched anchorman Lezak close the deal again by holding off the Australians.

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The mystery of the honey-toting gymnasts
When it comes to loving honey, Winnie the Pooh ain't got nothin' on Olympic gymnasts. Eagle-eyed viewers of NBC's gymnastics coverage have noticed the consistent presence


of a honey bottle in, or around, the gymnast's chalk bucket. Collectively, they'd like to know what a kitchen staple is doing amongst pommel horses, uneven bars and Martha Karolyi.Knowing where to turn with Olympic-related queries, the inquisitive readers flooded the comments sections of Fourth-Place Medal's Investigative Unit requesting -- nay, demanding -- an answer. As usual, we exist to serve. So without further adieu, FPMIU solves the mystery of the honey-toting gymnasts.

Contrary to an apparent widely-held belief, the honey is not consumed to provide a quick energy boost. There are virtually hundreds of better energy boosting options that exist (and aren't as sticky) and, frankly, somebody who is about to execute precise movements while holding onto a thin, reinforced composite plastic bar probably doesn't need to be hopped up on sugar.

The honey is actually used like Stick-um; to provide a better grip on certain elements in "hanging" events. We always see gymnasts chalk up both their apparatus (to make it easier to swing on) and hands (to prevent cracks in the skin). By placing a little honey on either their fingertips or palms (or both) gymnasts can get an even better grip on the rings or bars while swinging.

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