March 25, 2024
JAKARTA – Indonesia hopes to regain its badminton glory at the 2024 Paris Olympics following a big win at the All England Open in Birmingham, the United Kingdom, which ended a streak of disappointing results in its world tour.
The country managed to retain their men’s doubles title at the prestigious championship on Mar. 17 after the Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto pair beat Malaysia in the final. Indonesia also won gold for the men’s singles in an all-Indonesian final that saw Jonatan “Jojo” Christie beat compatriot Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.
The last time the country saw an all-Indonesian final at the All England Open was 30 years ago when Hariyanto Arbi defeated Ardy Bernardus Wiranata in 1994.
These results have been hailed by badminton fans as a return to form for a nation that excels in Badminton and has long dominated major championships, including the Olympics.
Indonesia has seen poor showings in the past year, in what many badminton fans called a “decrease in quality”. Indonesia for the first time ever failed to win any medals at the 19th Asian Games in Hangzhou, China last year.
The streak of poor performance continued into this year as Indonesia came home empty-handed from the Malaysia Open, the India Open and the French Open, all major championships deemed important to qualify for the Paris Olympics.
Ray of hope
The success at the All England Open caused fans to buzz with excitement as they finally saw an opportunity for Indonesia to compete at the summer games, which open on July 26.
Badminton pundit and former shuttler Andrei Adistia told The Jakarta Post last Tuesday that he was “confident” that Indonesia would make it to the Olympics after seeing the All England Open result.
The All England Open victories improve Jojo’s and Anthony’s standings in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) ranking, to fourth and sixth for the men’s singles, respectively
Bagging these titles also means Indonesia has collected more points on the road to this year’s Olympics.
Fajar and Rian also climbed up the ranking to the seventh spot in the men’s doubles after the championship. Others still looking to gain more points include the Apriyani Rahayu-Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti pair in the women’s doubles and Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in the women’s singles.
The Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) is still looking to secure more players for the Olympics spots.
“We’re trying to push Bagas Maulana and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri as representatives from men’s doubles as well as Rinov Rivaldy and Pitha Haningtyas Mentari from the mixed doubles,” said Yuni Kartika, the spokesperson of PBSI’s team for the summer Games.
Keeping up the momentum
With just over a month left before the Olympics qualification closes on Apr. 28, Yuni said she hoped the athletes could keep the momentum up and reach for Paris.
“We will focus on what lies ahead and be diligent throughout the process,” she said.
She said the remaining tournaments in the world tour were “highly important” to gain points for qualifying in the Olympics.
The Swiss Open and the Spain Masters will provide opportunities for the Rinov-Pitha and Bagas-Fikri pairs to boost their rankings.
The Bagas-Fikri pair advanced to the final at the Swiss Open on Saturday after beating fellow Indonesian pair Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin.
Rinov and Pitha, however, were eliminated in the round of 32 last Wednesday.
The Spain Masters will start on Tuesday.
Despite the triumphant atmosphere, badminton observer Andrei stressed the importance of avoiding any injuries among the athletes.
“This is a very positive streak for our badminton team, and they need to keep up their stamina and mental state,” he said.