Indonesia: A dark horse for 2012 London Olympics – Badminton Feature
China is undoubtedly the hot favourites to perform a clean sweep in the London Games but still they will not have a smooth journey to victory as badminton critics believe that Indonesia can continue with its tradition of pocketing at least one gold medal
in every edition of the Olympics.
This year Indonesia has stakes in all badminton categories and its squad includes world beaters like Men’s Singles maestro Taufik Hidayat, Simon Santoso along with Men’s Doubles experts Mohammad Ahsan-Bona Septano.
Meanwhile, Women’s and Mixed Doubles departments will be represented by Greysia Polii-Meiliana Jauhari and Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir respectively.
Men’s Singles team will be led by former World and Olympic Champion Taufik Hidayat. He is considered as one of the most dangerous shuttlers who can spoil anybody’s party at anytime.
Though, World Number 12 Taufik is not enjoying the best of times in the arena, still he has the potential to repeat performance of 2004 when he stamped Korean legend Shon Seung-mo to wear a gold medal around his neck.
The badminton ace, famous for his power packed forehand and backhand shots along with very deceptive net play, will also inspire the second Singles campaigner Simon Santoso to live up to expectations.
World Number six Simon has grabbed all the attention by performing exceedingly well in recent past and these successful outings elevated his status not only in rankings but also in the international arena.
Now he will be looking for an avenging victory as he crashed out of 2008 Beijing Olympics after losing a quarter-final match.
On the other hand, Women’s Doubles team Greysia-Meiliana will surely put all they have to make their impact in their first appearance of the Olympics.
World Number 12 pair may not be a serious threat to top ranked Chinese and Korean teams but one or two upsets can raise their chances of a medal.
They have been under severe criticism for their below par performance in last couple of months but they vowed to silence their critics in the coming edition of the mega event.
Badminton pundits are also declaring Mixed Doubles partners Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir as strong contenders for a gold medal as the duo is in sublime form after winning three consecutive international titles.
World Number four pair bagged All England Open before claiming the crown in the Swiss Open and India Open 2012.
Now, they are probably the biggest bet for Indonesia in the London Games and it will be interesting to see them handling this pressure as they shoulder their responsibility to set an example for other national campaigners.
Next major hope of the country is Men’s Doubles partnership Mohammad Ahsan-Bona Septano which has raised national flag in several international tournaments.
The World number six duo rose to prominence just a couple of years ago but they have earned their place by unseating defending Olympic Champion pair Markis Kido-Hendra Setiawan in a tight Olympic qualification battle.
However, lack of consistency may jeopardise their prospects so they will be looking to stay focused to follow the successful trail paved by their senior compatriots.
Indonesia is the only country that has secured a gold medal in every Olympic outing. With such a splendid history, the Indonesian shuttlers have enough power to send shivers down the spine of all contestants but only time will tell how the wind blows and
in whose favour.
The views expressed in this article are the writer's own and in no way represent Bettor.com's official editorial policy.
Tags: