Olympic medalists urged to prepare for next challenge

ndonesia's triumphant shuttlers are looking to put aside the Olympic euphoria for their next challenge at the Taiwan Grand Prix early next month.

Badminton coach Christian Hadinata urged the players to keep focused on training.

"Besides the Olympians, we are also preparing new players for upcoming events that could serve as a warm up for the Southeast Asian Games and Asian Games," he said on the sidelines of the presentation ceremony for Indonesian Olympic medalists in Jakarta on Wednesday.

The Taiwan Grand Prix will run from Sept. 9 to 14, followed by Japan Superseries (Sept. 16-21), China Masters (Sept. 23-29), and Macau Grand Prix (Sept. 31-Oct. 5).

However, doubles player Markis Kido already looks forward to next year's All England, where he and his partner Hendra Setiawan are yet to claim glory.

"We are proud about our achievement at the Olympics. However, we will be challenged to prove our worth at the All England Open," 24-year-old Kido said, referring to the world's oldest badminton tournament.

The 2009 edition of the Yonex All England Open will take place in March. Doubles pair Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto were the last Indonesians to win the trophy in 2003.

Kido and Hendra received Rp 1.5 billion (US$164,000) at the presentation ceremony. Mixed doubles Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir, who brought home the silver, earned Rp 750 million. The three silver medalists, shuttler Maria Kristin Yulianti, and weightlifters Eko Yuli Irawan and Triyatno, pocketed Rp 300 million each.

The government distributed a total Rp 3.85 billion, a portion of which also went to their coaches.

Men's double coach received Rp 250 million, the mixed doubles coach recieved Rp 150 million, the women's single coach and weightlifting coach received Rp 100 million each.

Weightlifting coach Sori Enda Nasution offered wise words to his athletes, saying they should maintain modesty despite their Olympic sucess.