For Chia Han Keong
Indonesia has long been recognized as a powerhouse nation in badminton. When the sport was finally included in the Barcelona Olympics in 1992, there was a lot of excitement in the Southeast Asian country.
She had not won a gold medal despite participating in the Games since 1952. Her only medal until 1992 was a silver in women’s team archery at the 1988 Seoul Olympics.
Therefore, badminton was his best shot at winning that elusive gold. He finally arrived in Barcelona, but what surprised the populous nation was that he achieved not one, but two golds in this sport, in the men’s and women’s individual events.
There was also a second surprise for the Indonesian badminton fans. The winner of the women’s singles event, Susi Susanti, was considered the best in the world at the time. But fans thought the men’s singles gold would go to then-World Cup champion Ardy Wiranata.
Instead, it was her less recognized compatriot Alan Budikusuma, Susanti’s boyfriend at the time, who took the gold medal by beating Wiranata in the final.
Everyone vibrated the great story of the golden couple, especially after Budikusuma and Susanti married in 1997. Their effort and triumph was celebrated with enthusiasm in Jakarta, with a two-hour parade attended by almost a million people after the return of the duo after the Games.
Change of luck
Before the Games, the outlook was not encouraging. A few months earlier, in May, Indonesia had lost in the prestigious Thomas & Uber Cup team competitions in Kuala Lumpur.
Susanti had failed to lift a weak women’s team, and they lost 1-4 in the Uber Cup semi-finals. Budikusuma came under heavy criticism for being upset with Malaysia’s Foo Kok Keong, when the Indonesian men’s team was defeated by 2 -3 in the Thomas Cup final against the hosts.
“I thought it would be better to just stop. At the time, I wasn’t even sure, “Budikusuma told CNN in an interview this year. “But it helped me to talk to Susi, her parents, the coaches and former Indonesia player Eddy Kurniawan.
“They motivated me to go back to training. I started to trust that sometime I was going to win. The most important thing is how you get up after a loss ”.
Thus, the Indonesian players came to Barcelona eager to overcome their failures in the Thomas & Uber Cup. Susanti led in the early stages of the women’s singles tournament and outplayed all of her opponents without losing a set on the way to the final, where she faced Bang Soo-hyun from South Korea.
Budikusuma also achieved an excellent level of play, despite not being among the top four seeds in the competition. He also did not lose any sets on his way to the final, despite a tough match with Danish Thomas Stuer-Lauridsen in the semi-finals.
With Wiranata also in the final, Indonesia clinched gold in the men’s singles competition, and Budikusuma admitted that this took a huge burden off him. Furthermore, he was sure that he could beat his most famous compatriot as he had a better record when facing Wiranata.
Susanti’s last match was before the Budikusuma final. He was trying to find out how his girlfriend’s game was going while he was locked in the warm-up area. Things did not improve when Susanti unusually lost the first set 5-11 to Bang.
However, Budikusuma said he still had confidence in her as she often started slow and became more dominant as her matches progressed. Sure enough, Susanti found her magic, defended herself and won the next two sets 11-5 and 11-3. Indonesia had broken its losing streak at the Olympics.
A good start
Excited by Susanti’s historic victory, Budikusuma reached the final of the men’s singles event motivated. He knew that if Susi had won, he could too.
And he did. He beat Wiranata (15-12, 18-13) and won Indonesia’s second gold at the Games. The Indonesian fairytale couple was on top.
After marrying and retiring from the sport, Susanti and Budikusuma founded a badminton club in Jakarta and a sports equipment company.
They also had three children. After the birth of her eldest son in 1999, Indonesia was rocked by a series of social outbreaks and violent events. Susanti decided to name her son Laurencia Averina Wiratama, which means “peace,” in the hope that he will bring peace to the nation.
