Keeping the Flame of Hope for Badminton Regeneration Alive

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — Mental preparation and mindset accompanied by the provision of appropriate programs can help smooth the transition of junior badminton players to the senior level. A smooth transition for junior athletes maintains the hope for the regeneration of Indonesian badminton players.

The 2001 badminton world champion, Hendrawan, stated this after the award ceremony for outstanding badminton players by PB Djarum, in Jakarta, on Wednesday (5/2/2025). At the event, PB Djarum presented awards to athletes who won national and international tournaments throughout 2024.

"Preparing the mindset and mentality of junior athletes is their very first step before entering the transition period, along with providing the right program. This program certainly varies from each coach, but the results are seen from their adaptation when moving towards the senior level," said Hendrawan, who returned to Indonesia at the end of 2024 and joined as the Technical Advisor for Men's and Women's Singles at PB Djarum.

Hendrawan realizes that he actually does not have much experience handling junior athletes. All this time, the silver medalist of the 2000 Sydney Olympics has always been a coach for senior badminton players, including coaching one of Malaysia's best players, Lee Chong Wei.

However, Hendrawan relies on his own experience as a player during the transition from junior to senior level. According to the Malaysian men's singles coach from 2009-2024, athletes must first be given an understanding that at a higher level, everything is different. Therefore, junior athletes must prepare their mentality and change their mindset.

"In junior levels, perhaps with a certain portion of training it might be sufficient, but in the more competitive senior levels, there will certainly be differences. I myself will try to combine junior and senior training programs with the hope of making them adapt earlier," said Hendrawan.

When entering senior competition, Hendrawan hopes that athletes will occasionally return to their respective original clubs. Training and meeting with their junior coaches will help athletes face new challenges at the senior level.

"My input, they should connect or return to the club to train occasionally and meet their coaches during seniors. Because, they experience something new so they need people who know their character from childhood," said Hendrawan.

The smooth transition of junior athletes to the senior level will be related to the readiness of badminton regeneration. Moreover, currently, Indonesian badminton players who are already at the senior level have difficulty winning titles, including returning home with only one title from four tournaments at the beginning of the year.

As a result, there is a push to slowly start transitioning younger players to the senior level. Jonatan Christie, who failed to become a champion after being stopped by Kunlavut Vitidsarn (Thailand) in the final of the 2025 Indonesia Masters, for example, hopes that his younger brothers in the men's singles can get more playing time.

The goal is to reduce the gap between himself and Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (ranked 11th) with other players at the national training camp, such as Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo, Alwi Farhan, Yohanes Saut Marcellyno, and Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah.

The last name is an athlete who was just called by PP PBSI to become a member of the national training center in 2025. Zaki is one of the young men's singles with potential. He won the 2024 Indonesia Masters Super 100 tournament in Pekanbaru, Riau.

In junior competition, for athletes aged 18 and under, Zaki's highest achievement was when he led Indonesia to become the champion of the Suhandinata Cup, a world mixed team championship. The athlete trained by PB Djarum became a semifinalist in the individual category.

This season is also a transition for Zaki to enter a higher level of competition. At this time, Zaki's adaptability will be tested because a very big challenge will await him.

Besides Zaki, another potential men's singles badminton player is Richie Duta Richardo. The winner of the 2024 Petronas Malaysia International Series gave a surprise when he defeated Chico in the final match of the 2024 PBSI National Championship.

PB Djarum Chairman Yoppy Rosimin said that Zaki and Richie's achievements, including at the 2024 PBSI National Championship, were inseparable from the trust to give them the opportunity to play. Moreover, in that event, Zaki and Richie competed with more senior players.

"This is a bold breakthrough when fielding young men's singles players with all the risks. Even if they lose in the end, they will still be satisfied, because it has given them a platform to play against seniors. Hopefully, positive regeneration like this will continue," said Yoppy.

For their achievements, Zaki and Richie were named as outstanding young athletes of PB Djarum 2024 and received an appreciation of Rp25 million. "This appreciation is an additional motivation for me, especially since there will be a national selection soon, I want to give my best to be able to penetrate the national training center too," said Richie.

Appreciation was also given by the Bakti Olahraga Djarum Foundation to other PB Djarum athletes who won the 2024 PBSI National Championship in mixed teams and 48 U-17 and U-19 athletes. In addition, there was also appreciation for Sausan Dwi Ramadhani (2024 PBSI National Championship champion for women's cadet singles), Ardita Anjani/Titis Maulida Rahma (2024 PBSI National Championship champion for women's cadet doubles), Anselmus Breagit/Pulang Ramadhan (2024 PBSI National Championship champion for men's cadet doubles) and Dejan Ferdinansyah/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja who are ranked 8th in the world.

Yoppy said that the awarding of appreciation which is routinely scheduled every year is expected to motivate the athletes. Thus, the athletes become more enthusiastic in making more and higher achievements in the coming year.

"Next, we still have homework to shine more in international championships both in the team and individual sectors. Not winning is okay, the most important thing is not to want to lose," said Yoppy.