Indonesia won Olympic gold in just one sport: badminton. The fourth nation on Monday got the world’s most populous another
badminton victory
en Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu won gold in the women’s doubles event. It was Indonesia’s first gold medal at the Tokyo Games and the eighth in the country’s Olympic history.
Polii and Apriyani outscored former world champions Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan of China in equal sets, 21-19, 21-15, delivering precision shuttle hits combined with floating shots that left their opponents in vain. Towards the end of the match, Polii had to leave the field halfway to change rackets due to a broken string, but came back to win.
Badminton is a national sport in Indonesia where commuters occupy the space they can find to play: a clearing in a palm oil plantation, a jetty on a remote island or a strip of cement between skyscrapers. The number of medals for Olympic sports is dominated by Asian countries, such as China, Indonesia and South Korea.
Polii, 33, is a badminton veteran who had first participated in the London 2012 Games. But the beginning was ominous. To get a better draw, she and her partner tried to lose an early game, the Olympic organizers determined. The Indonesians, along with several other couples, were disqualified.
Unsportsmanlike conduct has plagued badminton in recent months. The sport’s governing body this year banned three Indonesian players for life for match-fixing and betting. Five others were fined and suspended for up to 12 years.
After Thi 2016 in Rio de Janeiro, where she and her former partner reached the quarterfinals, Polii was preparing to retire. But Apriyani, ten years younger, convinced her to persevere for another Olympics. They participated in the competition in Tokyo without seeds.
Indonesia has been consumed by coronavirus
, which has made the country one of the most dangerous places in the world. The Delta variant crosses the vast archipelago, as vaccination rates remain low.
Anthony Sinisuka Gi nting from Indonesia will play in the bronze medal in the men’s singles on Monday night, but the only hopes for a gold medal in badminton rested on Apriyani and Polii. (Indonesia also won bronze in women’s weightlifting and has medal hopes in another women’s weightlifting class.)
“The wait for gold ended this afternoon,” President Joko Widodo of Indonesia wrote on the social network. “This victory is the gift of independence from Indonesia two weeks too early.
Indonesia is the largest country with a Muslim majority in the world, although it has a significant minority of Christians and adherents of other faiths. While sectarian tensions have simmered over the years, sometimes with fatal consequences, double badminton players often come from mixed backgrounds, such as Apriyani, a Muslim, and Polii, a Christian.
After the couple’s victory on Monday, a politician from an Islamist party congratulated them on Twitter.
“This gold medal is a sweet gift to Indonesia, which is still fighting the pandemic,” wrote Mardani Ali Sera, legislator for the prosperous Justice Party. “Thank you to all the Indonesian athletes who fought and still fight. Indonesians support you and pray for you. “
