Taufik is DONE or Indonesia Badminton is in Trouble?
Taufik Hidayat
You do not have to be a fortune teller to predict Taufik's fate in competitive badminton arena. Since the disappointing lost in 2011 US & Canada Open, Taufik had not shown any sign of competitive edge. In fact, his performance went down further. Following his North America tour, Taufik could not even catch up Derrick Wong of Singapore in Yonex World Championship 2011. He simply gave up in straight set 17-21 14-21 within 31 minutes of match. Then within a month, he bailed out on the 1st round of 2011 Japan Open to Taiwanese rookie Tien Chen Chou.
His legacy in home court also got tarnished. He was stopped by his own country man, Tommy Sugiarto in straight set 10-21 15-21 at Bankaltim Indonesia Open GP 2011 semi final stage. Then the disappointing lost in 2011 Denmark Open to another Denmark rookie, Victor Axelsen and 1st round exit in French Open 2011 to Wang Zhengming, again in straight set.
Of course this trend is not a shocking news to all professional athletes. We can refer to Tiger Woods, Mike Tyson and other legendary professional sportsmen. The bad news is about the future of Indonesia badminton. Up 'till this moment, there is NONE of men single players from Indonesia who are consistent and capable to maintain their progress in international tournament. Rumbaka is probably still young, but he is not progressing to the level of serious contender. Tommy Sugiarto is up and down, which we have not seen him beating any players from China. Andre Tedjono just recently won the Swiss International Open, but that is a second class event, where they are not many elite players were there to challenge his talents.
So, what can Indonesia do? When Taufik is done, Indonesia badminton era is also finished?