As the Euphoria Goes (Tribute to Jakpost)

Jujur, agak kaget tadi pas baca artikel dari Jakpost karena baru kali ini rasanya ada media cetak non olahraga yang melakukan riset cukup mendalam tentang ranking dan siapa-siapa yang berpeluang untuk beberapa tahun ke depan di badminton. Maka, saya pikir saya copas sebagian artikel itu kesini sebagai penghargaan kepada Jakpost dan Niken Prathivi sebagai penulis.

It is time now for other members of the national badminton team, especially the younger generation, to wake up and smell the coffee and do the hard deals. They have four years before the 2020 Tokyo Games to develop their technical skills and follow in the footsteps of Tontowi and Liliyana.

All of this can be shaped by participating in numerous individual international competitions as well as regional multi-sport events such as the 2017 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games in Kuala Lumpur and 2018 Asian Games at home. These two regional events will serve as ideal stepping stones toward the Tokyo Olympics.

Taking advantage as hosts in the 2018 Asian Games, Indonesian badminton players should push themselves to win more golds as this will give a boost to their morale ahead of the 2020 Olympics.

Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) chief Gita Wirjawan retains his faith that the country is looking at three future stars in the men’s singles with a potential to win medals in Tokyo. They are Ihsan Maulana Mustofa, Jonatan Christie and Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, respectively junior world No. 17, 22 and 30.

The three displayed maturity beyond their ages when helping Indonesia triumph in the 2016 Asia Championships men’s team competition and the 2015 SEA Games men’s team event.

In fact, doubles events have become the dependable sector for the Indonesian badminton team in winning Olympic medals ever since the historic 1992 Barcelona Games.

Indonesia, however, may not be able to pin too much hope of taking over the baton from Tontowi and Liliyana on the country’s second-best mixed doubles team of Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto, who lost in the quarterfinals in Rio. Debby, 27, has bid farewell to the Olympics.

This makes it even trickier as the ranking gap between Praveen/Debby and the younger teams is quite big. Ronald Alexander and Melati Daeva Oktavianti are currently number 19, while, Riky Widianto and Richi Puspita Dili are 28th. Both pairs, however, are still under the radar.

In the women’s doubles, the most famous pair is fourth-ranked Nitya Krishinda Maheswari and Greysia Polii, who finished the group stage but crashed out in the quarterfinals in Rio. But Nitya will be 31 and Greysia 33 when the Tokyo Olympics take place. They have done quite well so far, but may not be fit for such a competitive event as the Olympics.

Climbing up the ranking ladder behind Nitya/Greysia are No. 19 Anggia Shitta Awanda and Ni Ketut Mahadewi Istirani, as well as No. 20 Della Destiara Haris and Rosyita Eka Putri Sari.

In the men’s doubles, the PBSI reckons on Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo at No. 11 and Angga Pratama and Ricky Karanda Suwardi at No. 13. The two pairs hint at a promising future. They are in the PBSI’s grooming program to layer fifth-ranked Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan, who performed poorly in Rio.

Sadly, the women’s singles is still a big challenge for Indonesian badminton to deal with. With Maria Febe Kusumastuti as the only shuttler in the top 30 list, the PBSI needs to go the extra mile and scout for talent, hopefully under the legendary Susi Susanti.

Anything can happen in the coming four years, but nothing is going to dim the Indonesian badminton players’ love of donning the national colors and winning in the Olympics.

Artikel lengkapnya, bisa kalian baca di http://www.thejakartapost.com/news/2016/08/29/let-s-not-take-olympic-badminton-gold-granted.html

Cerita Riau Di Rio

Riau Ega Agatha Salsabila, apa yang terlintas ketika pertama membaca nama tersebut? Pas pertama kali baca kami pikir Ega lahir di Riau, ternyata tidak, pemanah ini berasal dari Blitar, Jawa Timur yang ribuan kilometer jauhnya dari Riau. Yang pasti perhatian banyak pecinta olahraga Indonesia entah di Blitar, Riau atau dimanapun juga akan tertuju ke Ega saat dia tampil di Sambodromo pada hari ketujuh olimpiade Rio 2016.

Sambodromo, tempat dimana para penari samba terbaik berkumpul untuk seminggu ini menjadi arena para gladiator beradu dengan busur dan panah. Setelah 3 emas melayang ke Korea, 14 pemanah putra pasti berusaha agar tidak ada sapu bersih dan terinspirasi Ega yang mengalahkan pemanah utama Korea senin lalu. Memang suatu kejutan tapi tentu Ega ingin tidak hanya sekedar memuluskan jalan orang lain menuju podium melainkan dia sendiri ikut berdiri di podium. Untuk mewujudkan harapan itu, pertama-tama Ega harus tampil lebih baik dari Mauro Nespoli. Nespoli sendiri tak asing dengan podium Olimpiade, 4 tahun lalu di Lord's cricket ground bersama Marco Galliazo dan Michelle Frangili berdiri di podium tertinggi sambil membawa bendera merah putih hijau vertikal.

Apapun hasil pada hari terakhir di Sambodromo yang diraih Ega, dia sudah mencatatkan diri sebagai 1 dari 16 pemanah putra terbaik dunia. Dan melihat antusiasme masyarakat menanti penampilan Ega serta membludaknya penonton 3 srikandi, ini adalah momentum bagi seluruh jajaran Perpani untuk mempopulerkan lagi panahan di anak muda Indonesia agar penantian medali olimpiade kedua atau ketiga tidak perlu menunggu 20 tahun lebih lamanya dari sekarang.

Semoga