Taking Home Three Titles despite Injuries

AP/DITA ALANGKARA

Indonesia's Apriyani Rahayu, right, and Siti Ramadhanti compete against Japan's Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara during their women's doubles first round match at Indonesia Open badminton tournament at Istora Gelora Bung Karno Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia, Wednesday, June 15, 2022.

SINGAPORE, SUNDAY — The Indonesian badminton team took home three titles from the 2022 Singapore Open despite injuries. This success was thanks to the steely determination of two injured Indonesian shuttlers. They fought pain throughout the game to make the Red and White proud when there was an option to withdraw from the final which took place on Sunday (17/7/2022).

The three titles were obtained by the women's doubles Apriyani Rahayu/Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti who defeated the Chinese doubles, Zhang Shu Xian/Zheng Yu, 21-14, 21-17; men's doubles Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin who won 9-21, 21-14, 21-16 over fellow Indonesian-shuttlers Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto; and men's singles Anthony Sinisuka Ginting who won 23-21, 21-17 over Kodai Naraoka of Japan.

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Together with Indian women's singles, PV Sindhu, who won over Chinese badminton, Wang Zhi Yi, 21-9, 11-21, 21-15, the three Indonesian representatives were the new champions at the Singapore Open. The last time Indonesia won titles at the Singapore Open was in 2013 when men’s singles Tommy Sugiarto, men’s doubles Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan and mixed doubles Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir's were the champions.

AP PHOTO/DITA ALANGKARA

Indonesia's Anthony Sinisuka Ginting competes against China's Chen Long during their men's singles badminton semifinal match at the 2020 Summer Olympics, Sunday, Aug. 1, 2021, in Tokyo, Japan.

Behind the success, there was an extraordinary struggle from the Indonesian shuttlers. Fadia and Leo competed with injuries to win the matches. Fadia suffered a left heel injury that she has struggled with since the 2022 Malaysia Masters (5-10 July). Meanwhile, Leo suffered a waist injury in training which prevented Leo/Daniel from taking part in the 2022 Malaysia Open (28 June-3 July) and the 2022 Malaysia Masters.

Refuse to back down

Both were given the opportunity to withdraw from the Singapore Open final. However, they continued to play despite their injuries. Fadia acknowledged that the women's doubles coach Eng Hian had asked whether she wanted to withdraw or continue playing on the morning before the final.

Fadia suffered an injury when she and Apriyani won over Thailand's doubles, Supissara Paewsampran/Puttita Supajirakul, 19-21, 21-13, 21-19, in the semifinals, on Saturday (16/7). However, Fadia insisted on continuing to play in the final.

“Even though my left heel still hurt, I persisted and forced myself to keep playing. It was because my desire to win was so great that it could overcome the pain. When I played, it's like I did not feel pain in my feet," Fadia told officials from the public relations of the Central Board of the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI).

Leo also showed great determination. The pain in his back was quite disturbing. Leo had twice requested treatment time for pain relief spray when he and Daniel trailed Fajar/Rian 5-11 in the first game and when they were leading 11-6 in the second game.

Several times Leo held his waist, but he insisted on fighting. "Because it was our responsibility and this was the final match. Moreover, Daniel was also ready to back me up," said Leo.

In short, we just had to be smart about how to play. It turned out to be a success and we became champions.

According to Daniel, when Leo was treated, he asked if Leo wanted to continue playing or stop. Leo said he wanted to continue. "Leo said keep playing; yes, we forced ourselves to keep playing. I asked Leo to be safe. In short, we just had to be smart about how to play. It turned out to be a success and we became champions,” said Daniel.

Overflow of emotion

Anthony’s emotion overflowed. Soon after getting the last point that ensured he would become the Singapore Open champion, while screaming loudly, Anthony smashed his racket so hard on the court that he caused the racket to break.

The outburst of emotion was natural because he had just ended his slump of the last two years. The last time Anthony won was at the Indonesia Masters 2020 in Jakarta.

This year, Anthony's game graphics were less than satisfactory. Of the nine championships before the Singapore Open, his best achievements were entering the semifinalists for the Indonesia Masters 2022 in Jakarta and the 2022 Swiss Open in Basel.

KOMPAS/DENTY PIAWAI NASTITIE

Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto

Anthony’s achievement in the Singapore Open was among his best moments after poor performances in the last few months. "Grateful for all the hard work and also the trust from the coach, PBSI and all those who continue to support me; I can finally win after a long wait," he said.

However, the three Indonesian representatives were not satisfied with being the champions of the Singapore Open. Instead, they tried to use the title as motivation to continue to do better and win other titles in the next series of championships.

For the Leo/Daniel pair, the men's doubles number 23 in the world, the achievement in the Singapore Open champion was their first world-tour title. Previously, their best performance was runner-up at the Hylo Open 2021 in Saarbrucken, Germany (2-7 November 2021).

The Leo/Daniel pair’s confidence was lifted with this achievement and they now want to continue the winning trend in other championships. (DRI)

(This article was translated by Hendarsyah Tarmizi)