JAKARTA - Badminton legend Liliyana Natsir revealed that she almost made a blunder in rejecting the prestigious BWF Hall of Fame award.
The mixed doubles specialist badminton player officially received the Hall of Fame at a ceremony at Istora Senayan, on Saturday, June 18.
She became the second Indonesian female badminton athlete to receive the award after Susy Susanti.
Liliyana said that initially she received a message from a BWF official via WhatsApp that said she had received a Hall of Fame award.
The message was almost ignored because he was busy.
"I thought that because I was busy taking care of the house, I just turned it down, okay? After I read it again, I just found out it was a Hall of Fame award. Luckily I haven't refused. I immediately replied, I said thank you for giving me the opportunity ," he said.
Historically, nine Indonesian athletes have entered the Hall of Fame.
The first Indonesian athletes to receive this award were Dick Sudirman and Rudy Hartono.
Rudy Hartono is a legend who won eight All England titles.
Meanwhile, Sudirman's name was made famous for the Sudirman Cup championship, the badminton world championship.
Following after that were Christian Hadinata (2001), Liem Siew King (2002), Susi Susanti (2004), Tjun Tjun, Johan Wahjudi, Ricky Subagja, Rexy Mainaky (2009).
"I see that only nine Indonesian athletes have entered the hall of Fame and I am the second female athlete. The first is Susi [Susanti]. Of course I am proud," said Liliyana.
"Even though I have retired, I still receive awards. This is clear evidence that Indonesian badminton is recognized in the eyes of the world, not only in Indonesia," continued the pair Tontowi Ahmad.
Liliyana said that this award gave her quite a lot of meaning.
Moreover, this is proof of international badminton's recognition of Indonesia.
"With this award, I hope that I can motivate younger brothers and sisters who are currently struggling to continue to give achievements, give pride to Indonesia and one day they will enter the Hall of Fame," he said.
While still active as a badminton player, Liliyana was known to be paired with Nova Widianto and Tontowi Ahmad.
He has won a number of important titles with his two partners.
Together with Nova, he won two world titles and one Olympic silver medal.
As for Tontowi, he succeeded in an All England hat-trick, two world titles, and the peak was gold at the 2016 Rio Olympics.
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