Rio Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir Olympic Gold Winner Parade Held In Today's Memory, 23 August 2016

Indonesian badminton mixed doubles pair Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir. (ANTARA)

JAKARTA - Today's memory, eight years ago, August 23, 2016, the Indonesian government held a championship parade for the Rio Olympic gold medalists in mixed doubles pairs, Tontowi Ahmad (Owi) and Liliyana Natsir (Butet). The procession was carried out from Soekarno-Hatta Airport to the Kemenpora office, which was greeted with great fanfare by Jabodetabek residents.

Previously, Owi/Butet served as the savior for Indonesian badminton at the Rio Olympics. They get gold for Indonesia. Meanwhile, the women's singles, men's singles, women's doubles, and men's doubles have no spurs.

The Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) is trying to field Indonesia's best badminton athletes to compete in the 2016 Rio Olympics. The gold target is certainly being launched. However, the reality answers differently.

The men's singles, women's singles, and men's doubles are gone which can penetrate the quarter-finals. Indonesia's hope also rests on women's doubles and mixed doubles only. Nitya men's doubles Maheswari/ Greysia Polii indeed qualified for the quarter-finals.

They tried to do their best to be able to compete in the next round. Hope is all hope. They actually lost to the Chinese women's doubles, Tan Yuanting/Yu Yang. This condition makes Indonesia's only hope of winning a medal on the shoulders of a mixed doubles, Owi-Butet and Praven Jordan/Debby Susanto.

The two mixed doubles pairs are both in the quarter-finals. The second problem has to face each other. This condition makes the two fight as hard as they can to go further.

Owi/Butet won convincingly by slashing two straight sets 21-16 and 21-11. Owi/Butet who advanced to the semifinals were then challenged by the Chinese mixed doubles, Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei. Owi/Butet was not afraid.

They also crushed the Chinese mixed doubles 16-21 and 15-21. This condition made Owi/Butet look at the final. Preparations were made. They began to develop strategies. Moreover, Malaysian mixed doubles, Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying cannot be underestimated.

However, that day the goddess Fortuna came to Owi/Butet. They won two straight sets with a score of 21-14 and 21-12. Finally, Indonesia won the first gold medal for mixed doubles. In particular, the victory occurred on August 17, 2016, which incidentally was a historic date for Indonesia: Independence Day. PBSI was also playing.

"I think we must celebrate all the achievements that have been done together. The community is always supportive, so they need to see what their heroes are like. And if now Indonesia gets gold, the impact is big and provides a different euphoria to the community regarding sports. And we hope that in the future the development of sports must be considered better by the government," said the Head of Public Relations and Social Media of PBSI, Yuni Kartika, quoted by the CNN Indonesia page, August 22, 2016.

This achievement made the Indonesian government proud. The Indonesian government, through the Ministry of Youth and Sports, tried to appreciate the victory of Owi/Butet and other sportsmen competing in the Rio Olympics. They tried to hold a winning parade and pick up athletes on August 23, 2016.

The route that will be passed by the championship parade is from Soekarno-Hatta Airport to the Kemenpora office. The proud Indonesian athletes will be paraded in open buses. Owi/Butet are not alone. Two weightlifters, namely Eko Yuli Irawan and Sri Wahyuni, who won silver medals at the 2016 Rio Olympics, also participated in the parade group.

Jabodetabek residents welcomed Indonesian sports heroes with great fanfare. They can't wait to capture the momentum to see their proud athletes directly. The Ministry of Youth and Sports was excited that it was not playing. They are also proud. They hope that the procession can motivate other athletes to excel.

"The government is very grateful because we received a special gift when Indonesia celebrated its 71st Anniversary, namely the return of the golden tradition to the country. This is a beautiful gift after eight years of waiting," said Menpora, Imam Nahrawi as quoted on the tirto page, August 23, 2016.