SHAH ALAM, Feb 20 — Indonesia reached another milestone in their illustrative badminton world as their women’s team were crowned as the Badminton Asia Team Championships (BATC) 2022 champions after beating South Korea, 3-1, here today.
This was their first title since the tournament began in 2016 while South Korea had to settle for yet another runner-up finish, repeating their 2020 edition achievement.
Indonesia got off to a flying start as the 2017 World Junior Champion, Gregoria Mariska Tunjung delivered an ‘A-game’ performance to crush Sim Yujin 21-9, 21-10 in just 26 minutes.
However, the South Korean side never gave up as their main doubles pair, Baek Ha Na-Seong Seung Yeon levelled the score for their team.
The world number 14 duo overcame a rubber set tie that lasted for one hour and five minutes against Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma-Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi, winning in 21-15, 14-21, 21-14.
In the third game, Indonesia regained the lead after Putri Kusuma Wardani got the better of Lee Se Yeon 21-10, 21-18.
After battling neck-and-neck in the first set, Nita Violina Marwah-Lanny Tria Mayasari overcame Kim Min Ji-Park Min Jeong in the next set, to ensure the BATC 2022 trophy belonged to Indonesia.
Nita-Lanny chalked up the winning point for Indonesia after they trounced Min Ji-Min Jeong, 23-21, 21-11.
Meanwhile, Nita, when met by reporters after the match, said she was proud to give Indonesia their first title in this tournament and dedicated the win to ‘Bangsa Indonesia’.
“We are very happy with the result, this title is definitely for ‘Bangsa Indonesia’,” she said.
Despite her country fielding second stringers in BATC 2022, Nita was glad to be part of the tournament as the experience would be valuable for her to gain more confidence in competing at a higher level.
Indonesian doubles team coach, Prasetyo Restu Basuki was elated to see her girls emerge victorious today as it surpassed their initial target of reaching the last four. — Bernama
