How Indonesia became the home of badminton
Government support, fanatical fans and world-beating players have made it the country’s favourite sport
W HEN THE Chinese players whacked the shuttlecock out of bounds on August 2nd, giving Indonesia its only gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics, the winning team of Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu collapsed onto the floor and sobbed with relief. Some 3,500 miles away, the Indonesian archipelago erupted with joy. Fans bursting with pride celebrated online, filling each others’ phones with tweets and memes. The president declared their triumph in the women’s doubles game an early “birthday gift” to the nation (its independence day is on August 17th). The badminton champs have been promised, among other things, prize money of 5bn rupiah ($347,000) each, houses, meatball kiosks and five cows.
This article appeared in the Asia section of the print edition under the headline “A pretty good racquet”
Asia August 14th 2021
From the August 14th 2021 edition
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