CHENNAI: Badminton is a way of life in Indonesia. It’s strongly linked to national identity and the common folk flock to the Istora in Jakarta — the sport’s cathedral in the country — to watch the world’s best in action every year. The indoor arena hosts the Indonesia Open, a World Tour 1000 event.
The obsession with badminton is greater for somebody like Tommy Sugiarto, son of the legendary Icuk. One of the greatest badminton players ever, the 57-year-old is one of the few to have medalled at the Asian Games, World Championships and the Olympics as well.
So it was natural that Tommy was drawn towards badminton even before he learnt to walk properly. “I perhaps saw my dad playing a few times when I was young and I knew that’s what I wanted to do,” he tells this daily. Even though the 31-year-old has established a name for himself — a former World No 3, he has a bronze at the Worlds in 2014 — living up to the surname isn’t that easy.
“I wanted to be like my father, a champion” he says. “It’s tough, people expect gold every time. I tried my best and achieved a few things, went to the Olympics (2016) and won a few titles,” he smiles. His father has coached him on and off but these days their badminton-based interactions are limited to more about off the field issues like preparations et. al.
Speaking of the Olympics, he has almost given up the chase. “I am over 30, not in the national camp and each country can send only two singles players. There are two players (Jonatan Christie and Anthony Ginting) better than me currently. I have only more four more months to increase my ranking. But I will keep trying.”
Even if the current World No 21 doesn’t have any bitterness towards the federation, he contends that it’s tough to train when not in the federation’s plans.
“I am not in the national camp, I train by myself in my academy. The facilities, sparring partners... everything is poorer. I am not complaining, that’s the way it is.”
In a career that’s spanned some 15 years, Tommy has had an enviable vantage point of playing against the greats of this century. When he began, Taufik Hidayat was winning Worlds medals. In an era that also had Lin Dan, Lee Chong Wei and now Kento Momota, he has played against all four. Who is the best? “Even though Momota is super consistent and extremely physical, I would say the previous generation (Dan and Chong Wei). They were all-rounders on the court.”
Playing for Chennai Superstarz in the Premier Badminton League (PBL), Tommy prevailed in the battle of two players seeking one last Indian summer. Up against Parupalli Kashyap, the Indonesian brought home the points 14-15, 15-10, 15-7 in their ‘Trump’ match. After PBL, his focus will return to getting back into the top 10 for a final time. “It’s something I want to do before retiring.” Considering he was No 9 last year, that’s an achievable goal.
Superstarz dominate rockets
Chennai Superstarz beat Mumbai Rockets 4-3 in Wednesday’s PBL contest in Chennai. Dhruv Kapila and Jessic Pugh beat Lee Dong-keun and PZ Bernadeth 15-10, 15-14. Lakshya Sen then got the better of Dong-keun 15-12, 15-10 before Tommy Sugiarto beat Parupalli Kashyap to give Chennai a 4-0 lead. Mumbai won the last two matches.