- Title: Indonesia's badminton team eyes gold in the upcoming Asian Games
- Date: 13th August 2018
- Summary: JAKARTA, INDONESIA (RECENT - MAY 3, 2018) (REUTERS) INDONESIAN BADMINTON CHAMPION KEVIN SUKAMULJO PRACTISING BADMINTON SUKAMULJO'S FEET AND SHADOW SUKAMULJO PRACTISING ATHLETES PRACTISING IN HALL VARIOUS OF INDONESIAN CHAMPION MARCUS GIDEON PRACTISING BADMINTON JAKARTA, INDONESIA (RECENT - JULY 20, 2018) (REUTERS) INDONESIAN CHAMPIONS KEVIN SUKAMULJO AND MARCUS GIDEON STANDING IN AN INTERVIEW (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) INDONESIAN BADMINTON CHAMPION, KEVIN SUKAMULJO, SAYING: "Our victory increased our confidence, and that's an important motivation for us going into the Asian Games." JAKARTA, INDONESIA (RECENT - MAY 3, 2018) (REUTERS) SLOW MOTION OF ATHLETES PLAYING BADMINTON JAKARTA, INDONESIA (RECENT - JULY 20, 2018) (REUTERS) (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) INDONESIAN BADMINTON CHAMPION, MARCUS GIDEON, SAYING: "We of course want a gold in the Olympics, but that's still too far ahead. We're going to do it step-by-step." JAKARTA, INDONESIA (RECENT - MAY 3, 2018) (REUTERS) VARIOUS OF ATHLETES PRACTISING BADMINTON SHUTTLECOCK STUCK IN NET ATHLETES PRACTISING JAKARTA, INDONESIA (RECENT - JULY 27, 2018) (REUTERS) MINISTRY OF SPORTS SECRETARY, GATOT DEWO BROTO, SITTING BROTO (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) MINISTRY OF SPORTS SECRETARY, GATOT DEWO BROTO, SAYING: "It looks very difficult to bring the Thomas and Uber cups home to Indonesia, because now the competition among the countries especially India, China, Korea, Japan, as well as Denmark, Thailand, Malaysia, Indonesia, it's very tough. That's why Indonesia is not really able anymore to say, 'I'm the winner,' that's why later on the Asian Games the target from badminton at the moment is only one gold medal." TANGERANG, BANTEN, INDONESIA (AUGUST 4, 2018) (REUTERS) MEN PLAYING BADMINTON IN NEIGHBOURHOOD FIELD VARIOUS OF MEN PLAYING BEHIND NET (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) LOCAL BADMINTON PLAYER SABRAN SAYING: "We're synonymous with badminton - almost every person in the world knows that Indonesia produces the best badminton athletes." MEN PLAYING BADMINTON JAKARTA, INDONESIA (RECENT - JULY 29, 2018) (REUTERS) GIRL SERVING VARIOUS OF GIRL AND LOCAL BADMINTON PLAYER, ARIF, PLAYING BADMINTON BY THE ROAD (SOUNDBITE) (Bahasa Indonesia) LOCAL BADMINTON PLAYER, ARIF, SAYING: "There are always new seeds of players coming up, so that's good. I hope the PBSI (Indonesian National Badminton Association) can further push the men's singles, because I think the men's and women's doubles are already great."
- 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: LVA0018T0SG1R
- 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
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