INDONESIA had had power in the women’s singles badminton in the mid-1990s. At that time, Indonesia had two top-notch women’s singles in the names of Susy Susanti and Mia Audina.
The combination of the two helped Indonesia win the 1994 and 1996 Uber Cup trophies. In the individual event, Susy Susanti was even the first Indonesian athlete to donate a gold medal in an event as big as the Olympics, in 1992 to be exact.
(Susy Susanti presenting the gold medal for Indonesia at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics)
However, after Susy Susanti retired in 1998, and was followed by Mia Audina, who changed her nationality to the Netherlands in 2000, Indonesia had difficulty finding world-class women’s singles.
True, at the 2008 Beijing Olympics, Indonesia won the bronze medal from the women’s singles number via Maria Kristin. However, after that, there were no major achievements recorded in Indonesian women’s singles in major events such as the Olympics.
Currently, the mainstay of Indonesia’s women’s singles, Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, only occupies the 22nd position in the world. She is still behind a number of elite badminton players in women’s singles, such as Tai Tzu Ying (Taiwan), Chen Yufei (China) to Carolina Marin (Spain).
Indonesian badminton legend, Susy Susanti, did not deny the above facts. Susy Susanti said that Indonesian men’s badminton had more achievements than women’s.
“We know that Indonesia’s achievements for women are less than for men. Indeed, the seeds for the daughter is not as much as the son and it must be admitted. We flash back to back. The champion of the daughter is only one, yes. There are a lot of our sons,” said Susy Susanti when interviewed in the program Special Dialogue Okezone.
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“We had the Five Pandavas, there were Ardy Wiranata, Alan Budikusuma, Hermawan Susanto, Hariyanto Arbi, Joko Suprianto who took turns being the champions. Likewise in the men’s doubles, starting from the era of Pak Tjun-Tjun, Johan Wahyudi to the era of Ricky/Rexy, Tony/Candra, Kevin/Gideon,” continued Susy Susanti.
So, what causes Indonesian women’s singles badminton to have difficulty achieving at the elite level? Susy Susanti said that Indonesia lacked quality seeds in women’s singles.
(Gregoria Mariska is currently ranked 22nd in the world)
“Indeed, our seeds for women are rather minimal than for men, so it is difficult for us to attract potential female athletes. True, many talented young athletes. However, talent alone is not enough,” said Susy.
“There are those who have talent, but lack of will. There are those with great will, but lack of talent. Therefore, this is all PR. However, I believe PBSI has nurtured the younger generation to catch up in the women’s singles sector,” said the 50-year-old woman.
Therefore, Susy Susanti hopes that the Indonesian women’s singles can give a breakthrough. Of course, the breakthrough in question is to penetrate the world’s elite level.
“Hopefully in the next few years, the women’s singles achievement can be even better. From what has now only penetrated 20 worlds, then it can enter the world elite level, “concluded the wife of Indonesian badminton legend, Alan Budikusuma.
