- Title: Indonesia's badminton team eyes gold in the upcoming Asian Games
- Date: 13th August 2018
- Summary: SCORE BOARD INDONESIAN SUPPORTERS WAVING BALLOONS
- Embargoed: 27th August 2018 06:29
- Keywords: champions competition players Asian Games badminton Indonesia
- Location: JAKARTA AND TANGERANG, BANTEN, INDONESIA
- City: JAKARTA AND TANGERANG, BANTEN, INDONESIA
- Country: Indonesia
- Topics: Badminton,Sport
- Reuters ID: LVA0038T0SG1R
- Aspect Ratio: 16:9
- Story Text: The badminton hall of Indonesia's PBSI (Persatuan Bulutangkis Seluruh Indonesia - Indonesian National Badminton Association) has groomed nearly all of the country's most renowned champions. But retaining the glory could prove to be tricky.
As the nation preps up for the upcoming Asian Games in mid-August, the struggle to claim gold medals has become the focus for Indonesia's current young badminton stars, who have been dubbed by press and fans as the "minions" due to their small size.
Their feats, however, are far from small.
Kevin Sukamuljo and Marcus Gideon began training as badminton athletes before turning 11. The pair have collected 16 gold medals since they were paired in 2015, leading them to be the champions in men's double last year.
Now they are set to compete in the Asian Games on Saturday (August 18), where they hope they could continue Indonesia's long-standing legacy of winning gold against other powerhouse countries such as Malaysia and China.
Badminton remains one of the most popular sport in Indonesia. Adults and even children can be seen playing it even out in the streets. Indonesians are more familiar with badminton than swimming, even though the country is a vast archipelago of over 17,000 islands.
Gideon, 27, hopes to take it "step-by-step" on the road toward the Asian Games and perhaps the Olympics in 2020.
"We're still, of course, hoping for a gold," he added.
Despite the decades of hype entailing every Indonesian badminton champion dubbed as coming from a country that "produces champions," pessimism still lingers ahead of the games, especially in the face of countries just as bent on getting gold.
"Because now the competition among the countries especially India, China, Korea, Japan, as well as Denmark, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, it's very tough," said Gatot S. Dewa Broto of Indonesian Youth and Sports Ministry.
Still, having won the Indonesian Masters, Indian Open and the All- England this year, the golden pair of Sukamuljo and Gideon is hoping to add another shine during this Asian Games. - Copyright Holder: REUTERS
- Copyright Notice: (c) Copyright Thomson Reuters 2018. Open For Restrictions - http://about.reuters.com/fulllegal.asp
- Usage Terms/Restrictions: None