Taufik Hidayat Launches Badminton Arena

Ami Afriatni

A wait of two and a half years ended with a dream come true as badminton’s Taufik Hidayat Arena, located at Ciracas, East Jakarta, officially opened on Monday. 

“My dream since its ground-breaking two and a half years ago has come true,” said the man after whom the arena is named.

“THA is my dedication to badminton, not only for Indonesia but also the world of badminton. I spent all my money from 16 years of working hard on the court.”

Taufik worked closely with URBANE architecture, the team that designed the building on a 6,500-square-meter plot of land. Designer Utari Syaukat applied the collateral concept and designed the hall with rounded corners to show Taufik’s endless fight during his career.

The sport hall has eight badminton courts, a gym, a multifunction room, a basketball court, an athletes’ lounge, a 10-room dormitory and a cafe.

Taufik plans to add a gallery to exhibit pictures featuring Indonesian shuttlers, and his achievement in the sport.

THA will also offer a training program for that will be for the public.

“We have already opened enrolment and there are Canadian athletes who have signed up to train,” said Taufik’s personal trainer, Mulyo Handoyo.

Taufik also has plans to get personally involved in training program.

“I will still play on my retirement tour until June when I play my final tournament, the Indonesia Open,” he said. “For the time being, Mulyo will handle the training program.

“He has been my coach since 1996 and in my opinion he’s the best coach. It’s not easy to be coach.”

Taufik also pledged his commitment to develop the sport in Indonesia. He will provide scholarships for talented young shuttlers from throughout the country. He said the scouting team had already started its quest to find the best talent.

“We will give them our full support, including school fees. With such a program, we want our tagline to be, ‘One for All, All for Indonesia,’ ” the Athens Olympic Games gold medalist said.

Prominent businessman Lutfi Hamid welcomed Taufik’s effort to build the sports hall. Lutfi hopes that Taufik can achieve his dream of developing better shuttlers for the country. “This is Taufik’s second success,” Lutfi said. “I saw him win gold in Athens, and now he launched THA. I hope THA can nurture good shuttlers, and invite shuttlers from all over the world. I hope he can manage it professionally.”