Shin Tae-yong Admits Badminton Is The Prima Donna In Indonesia Compared To Football

Shin Tae-yong (Instagram @ shintaeyong7777)

JAKARATA - National team coach Shin Tae-yong admits that badminton is still the prima donna in Indonesia. Many important achievements are inscribed by badminton athletes compared to football.

"In my view, badminton is the most accomplished sport in Indonesia, but football is more familiar to the public. The average number of spectators is around 20-30 people per game. The stadium is always full and that's good," said Shin Tae-yong in an interview held translated by the BAL YouTube channel launched on Sunday, January 9th.

What Shin Tae-yong said was a fact that was hard to deny. It is from this branch that Indonesia talks a lot on the international stage.

In 2021, Indonesia again made history through badminton. One gold medal was successfully brought home from the Tokyo Olympics after Gresysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu won in the women's doubles sector.

Shin admits that this achievement contrasts with that of football, the sport that he thinks is most familiar to Indonesian people.

"For Korea, because we have played in the World Cup, our infrastructure is very well built. Meanwhile, Indonesia is still very weak in terms of infrastructure," he said.

However, according to Shin Tae-yong, Indonesian football is heading in a better direction. But, to be able to have achievements, Indonesia must have infrastructure that is much better than now.

"The 2021 U-20 World Cup is planned to be held in Indonesia and everything has been prepared very well. But it has been postponed until 2023, so it is not impossible that the infrastructure will be better later. And the system will also be better. I hope that," he said. .

Shin Tae-yong just led Indonesia to the final of the AFF Cup 2020, but lost to Thailand. Furthermore, he will lead the troops of the U-23 age group at the same event in Cambodia next month.