Taufik, Wynne picked Indonesian Athletes of the Year

World men's singles badminton champion Taufik Hidayat and comeback tennis queen Wynne Prakusya swept the major honors here late on Friday in the glittering inaugural national sports award presentation.

Taufik, 24, accepted the evening's final award of best male athlete with a message for Indonesia's campaign in the Thomas Cup men's team competition, to be held in Japan from April 29 to May 7.

"I ask for the support of the Indonesian people as the national team will head to Tokyo on April 28 for the Thomas Cup. We are all hoping that we can win back the Thomas Cup," Taufik said of the competition, last won by Indonesia in 2002.

The 2004 Olympic and 2005 world champion was chosen over fellow nominees Bambang Pamungkas (soccer), Husein Abdullah (table tennis), Sutrisno (powerlifting) and Umar Syarief (karate).

"Thank God for this award. I had not expected to win the award, which has been organized for the first time by KONI (National Sports Council)," said the 24-year-old, who recently married Ami Gumelar, the daughter of KONI chairman Agum Gumelar.

"I'm proud about this appreciation of me. It shows that people still support me. I thank PBSI (the National Badminton Association) which has pushed me to the top. I thank my family and the people of Indonesia."

Wynne, who returned from a long injury layoff to win three golds at last December's Southeast Asian Games in the Philippines, beat out markswoman Bary Agustini Said, runner Olivia Sadi, archer Rina Dewi Puspitasari, cyclist Santia Tri Kusuma and rower Sarce Aronggear for best female athlete.

"These days have been great for me. Hopefully, this will inspire me further to creating good achievement in the future," said the 24-year-old from Surakarta, who received the best female athlete award from Bola sports tabloid last week.

The seven-member jury were journalists Ian Situmorang, Atal S. Depari, university practitioner Imam Suyudi, Sports and Youth Affairs Ministry staff Hari Setiono, as well as former athletes Zoraya Perucha and Loekman Niode from swimming, and tennis great Yayuk Basuki.

World boxing champion Chris John was chosen favorite athlete, based on SMS polling. It was his second award in a week after receiving Bola's top male athlete honor.

"This shows that people still support me. This will motivate me to do even better," the 26-year-old said.

Other awards included Best Young Athlete for Irene Kharisma (chess), Best Coach for Richard Mainaky (badminton), Best Team or Pair for Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir (badminton) and Best Patron for Luhut Panjaitan (Indonesian Karate-do Association).

Source: Xinhua