Coming To Tokyo As The Unseeded Couple, This Is Greysia/Apriyani's Journey To Olympic Gold

JAKARTA - Indonesian women's doubles Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu came to Tokyo as the unseeded pair. However, it ended up being a dark horse team that was able to win the Olympic gold medal.

Compared to Greysia/Apriyani, the world number one men's doubles Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and the world number two pair Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan are actually more expected to contribute gold to Indonesia.

However, that dream was dashed when Kevin/Marcus' steps ran aground in the quarter-finals, while Ahsan/Hendra were eliminated in the semifinals.

But unexpectedly, it was Greysia/Apriyani who was not seeded who actually managed to advance to the final.

Before stepping into the final, the world number six pair had already passed their competitors in the preliminary round of Group A.

Launching Antara, in the preliminary round of Group A, Greysia/Apriyani only lost one game when they beat Japanese first seed Yuki Fukushima/Sayaka Hirota 24-22, 13-21, 21-8.

The rest they managed to overthrow their opponents in two straight games, namely winning 21-14, 21-17 over Malaysian representatives Chow Mei Kuan/Lee Meng Yean, and England representatives Chloe Birch/Lauren Smith with a score of 21-11, 21-13.

With status as Group A winners, Greysia/Apriyani met the Chinese pair Du Yue/Li Yin Hui in the quarter-finals. The pair, who are 10 years apart in age, managed to end a tough match in three games with a score of 21-15, 20-22, 21-17.

Greysia/Apriyani were still unstoppable in the semifinals when they faced the fourth-seeded pair from South Korea Lee Sohee/Shin Seungcan who were defeated in two straight games 21-19, 21-17 to secure a place in the final.

In the final round, the second seeded Chinese pair Chen Qing Chen / Jia Yi Fan were clearly the favorites to win and win Olympic gold.

However, Greysia/Apriyani appeared confident and patient to end the match in two games 21-19, 21-15, and ensure Indonesia's first gold at the Tokyo Olympics.

With this result, Greysia/Apriyani also made history as the first Indonesian women's doubles to donate Olympic gold since badminton was competed at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, as well as complete the badminton gold collection from all sectors.