Jakarta: With the 2019 badminton World Championships kicking off next Monday in Basel, Switzerland and concluding with the final on August 25, Indonesia was sending 27 players to Switzerland but would only target one title at the world meet.
The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) head of development and achievement Susi Susanti acknowledged that based on the results of the recent two tournaments, where Indonesia’s World No. 1 Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and World No. 2 Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan were able to set up all-Indonesian men’s doubles finals at the 2019 Indonesia Open and the 2019 Japan Open, that implied that Indonesia’s men’s doubles have the highest chance of winning the gold medal in Basel.
“We are just focusing to win in one event, it could be from any of the five categories. However, the biggest opportunity is indeed in men’s doubles. We have some good mixed doubles pairs, and our men’s singles are one of the top in the world, hopefully they will be able to give some surprises too. Because we are very close to the Olympics, everyone is working extremely hard and anything is possible,” said Susanti.
Susanti also hoped that Indonesia’s women’s doubles department could optimize their performance to spring a surprise on the badminton court.
“We are expecting the women’s doubles to perform better than before. We hope Greysia/Apriyani could advance to the semi-finals. For Della/Rizki, they also have to prove their worth, otherwise, we may delist them from our priority list. Because, our main goal is to go to the Olympics,” added Susanti.
The Indonesian team has departed for Switzerland on Wednesday (8/14) using Turkish Airlines.
Below is the full list of Indonesian players at 2019 World Championships:
Men’s Singles: Jonatan Christie, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, Tommy Sugiarto
Women’s Singles: Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, Fitriani
Men’s Doubles: Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon, Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto, Berry Angriawan/Hardianto, Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan
Women’s Doubles: Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu, Della Destiara Haris/Rizki Amelia Pradipta, Jauza Fadhila Sugiarto/Yulfira Barkah
Mixed Doubles: Hafiz Faisal/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja, Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti, Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari, Ronald/Annisa Saufika
