Jakarta, Indonesia, April 24, 2022: Indonesian badminton legend Susi Susanti believes that the competition in women's singles is fierce and that Indonesia has its work cut out to win medals in the upcoming SEA Games and Asian Games.
In an interview with NOC Indonesia, Susi said that Indonesia is competing with many countries in Asia.
"In women's singles, there are a lot of formidable players from Asia, so the competition is fierce. We need to work extra hard to earn a medal," Susi said, regarding Indonesia's chances at the SEA Games in Hanoi next month and the Hangzhou Asian Games.
The eight-time medalist in SEA Games said Indonesia needed to pay attention to at least nine countries.
"From the world ranking and tournaments, apart from China, Japan and South Korea, there's also Chinese Taipei, Thailand, India, Hong Kong, Singapore and Malaysia," she added.
Indonesia last took home the women's singles gold medal at the SEA Games in 2013 through Bellaetrix Manuputty. In the Asian Games, Indonesia has only once won the gold medal - at the 1962 Asian Games in Jakarta through Minarni.
But Susi believes that the PBSI (national badminton federation) has established development programmes in all sectors to discover young talent.
“We need to work hard to produce the next generation of players and create new achievements," she said.
Susi name-checked two players that caught her eye in women’s singles: Gregoria Mariska and Putri Kusuma Wardani.
"Gregoria Mariska is still our leading player in women's singles. But we also have Putri KW. She's starting to show her potential," Susi concluded.
Source: https://www.nocindonesia.id