Target Two Badminton Gold Medals At SEA Games 2025 Realistic

JAKARTA Bringing home two gold medals from the 2025 SEA Games this month which will take place in Thailand is the most realistic target that badminton (sports) can achieve.

Deputy Chairperson of the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI), Taufik Hidayat, said that the composition of the players that could be sent to the biennial sporting event made them not want to be grandiose in expecting a lot.

"With the current state of the athletes, how many targets do we want? We just want to be more realistic, right? We don't want to be grandiose either. How much is the target, yes, it's like that," said Taufik.

PBSI initially set a target of only getting one gold medal from the multi-branch sports event. The Minister of Youth and Sports (Menpora), Erick Thohir, then asked for the target to be raised to two gold.

Responding to that, PBSI decided to change the squad. They added the women's singles Gregoria Mariska Tunjung and the men's doubles Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Mohammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani, who are pairs outside the PBSI National Training Center.

"It (the squad's change) has also been planned for a long and short list. So, indeed what the Government is targeting for PBSI is very reasonable," said Taufik, who is the 2004 Olympic gold medalist.

The competition for the gold medal in badminton is likely to take place very tough because the hosts Thailand and Malaysia sent their best squad to this event.

The 2025 SEA Games in Thailand will take place on December 9-20. The badminton sport sent 20 players to Thailand later, consisting of 10 women and 10 men.

Previously at the 2023 SEA Games in Cambodia, Indonesian badminton managed to become the overall champion. At that time they won five gold medals, four each from individual numbers and one from men's teams.