Former world champion Taufik Hidayat concerned as Indonesian badminton is ‘slowing down’

SINGAPORE – As Taufik Hidayat was getting ready for a photo shoot at the Singapore Badminton Stadium on Sept 27, a fan approached the Indonesian badminton great for a wefie.

Within the next 10 minutes, the 43-year-old had to field more requests for autographs and photographs. It has been over a decade since he retired from the sport, but the legend’s star power is still evident.

Taufik enjoyed an illustrious career during which he was crowned world champion (2005) and Olympic gold medallist (2004), placing him in the ranks of his compatriots who had also made their mark in world badminton.

While his legacy lives on after his retirement, things appear to be less rosy for Indonesia.

Once the sport’s powerhouses, they have not been as dominant as they used to be.

The former world No. 1 was also not too optimistic about the future of the sport in South-east Asia’s most populous country.

“I don’t know if Indonesia is slowing down or if other countries are going up,” said Taufik, who is in Singapore for the Sept 27-29 Foo Kok Keong (FKK) International Cup.

“It’s a different time now. But, to be honest, in my personal opinion, Indonesia is slowing down.”

The FKK International Cup, named after Malaysia’s former world No. 1, is a badminton tournament for seniors held in Asia.

The competition features 21 teams and 315 players comprising 12 nationalities, with multiple medals between them.

Besides Taufik, the field also includes players like Indonesian-American Tony Gunawan – whose medal collection includes the men’s doubles gold at the 2000 Olympics – and Thailand’s Boonsak Ponsana.

Since Taufik, no other Indonesian badminton player has risen to the top of the men’s singles world rankings, although Anthony Ginting and Jonatan Christie had come close, reaching world No. 2 at different times.

At the Hangzhou Asian Games in 2023, Indonesia failed to win any medals for the first time since badminton was introduced to the continental event in 1962.

Ginting (men’s singles), Gregoria Tunjung (women’s singles) and Fajar Alfian and Rian Ardianto (men’s doubles) all crashed out in the quarter-finals against lower-ranked opponents.

Taufik expressed concern about his country’s talent pipeline drying up, pointing to how there is a lack of successors to Ginting and Christie.

He said: “I don’t know how many years it’s been only Ginting and Jonatan, but after that we don’t have… I don’t know, we’ll see.

“Because after the Olympics, we have to change the situation.”

At the Paris Olympics, reigning All England champion Christie and Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Ginting both endured disappointing campaigns as they were eliminated at the group stages.

While the duo, who are both 27, have won major events and multiple titles on the BWF World Tour, neither has been consistent.

One area that Taufik feels needs to be improved is their mental resilience.

It is something that Christie has been working on, having enlisted the help of a psychologist after a round-of-16 exit at the Tokyo Olympics.

While Taufik likes watching Ginting in action, he said the player is “not so good” mentally, adding: “The character, how to learn, how to train, we have to change (those things).”

But he also noted that the field has become more competitive.

While he declined to compare his time and now, he said: “Now there are many, many good players, not just from one, two or three countries, but every country.”

But only one of them – Danish world No. 2 Viktor Axelsen – has been able to perform consistently at the highest level.

The 30-year-old has won back-to-back Olympic gold medals and is a two-time world champion.

Taufik said: “We have to appreciate what a good player he is. To get back-to-back gold medals is not easy because it’s once every four years.

“Sometimes after a player wins an Olympic title, a player’s (form) goes down because what else is next? He’s already on top.

“But Viktor can stay there for four years and then for another four years.”