Efforts To Develop Badminton Doubles Sector

Candra Wijaya held a double specialist tournament (doc. Special).

JAKARTA In the history of Indonesian badminton, the double sector played a lot of important roles. However, the number has recently begun to lose its spurs.

At the Olympic class event, doubles was recorded to have the most gold medal collections from eight copies that badminton had produced. However, most recently in Paris, the number dimmed.

The three doubles that went there, none contributed medals. The only bronze medal from France was brought by Gregoria Mariska Tunjung from the women's singles.

In the midst of this situation, badminton legend Candra Wijaya decided to hold the 2024 Doubles Special Championships again. This tournament was specially attended by doubles.

Candra said that in addition to aiming to further popularize double numbers, this tournament was also held to help develop young age.

"Through this championship, I provide opportunities for the seeds of talented players in double groups to hone and improve their abilities and increase experience flight hours," said Candra.

The 12th edition of the Championship was attended by the U-15, U-17, and U-19 age groups. These ages are also expected to be the backbone of Indonesia's doubles in the future.

The plan is for the event, which will compete for a total prize of IDR 235 million, will take place on September 4-7, 2024 in Serpong, Tangerang, Banten.

This tournament was first held in 2009 and took place every year until 2019. However, in 2016 this event was not held due to difficulties in finding the arena for matches.

When the corona pandemic hit the world, this tournament was forced to take a break for three consecutive years from 2020, 2021, and 2022. After things improved, this event resumed this year.

Candra mengungkapkan bahwa saat ini persaingan di sektor ganda sudah begitu ketat. Karena itu, ia berhadap ajang yang dia bina ini bisa kembali menghasilkan ganda mainstay.

"Hopefully this can bring back reliable double players, both in men's doubles, women's doubles, and mixed doubles to be donated to Indonesia's beloved country," he said.

In addition to the five gold medals from the Olympics, the double sector is also very dominant in important events such as the World Championships and Asian Games. In these two events, Indonesia was in gold medals.

Candra, who won the 2000 Sydney Olympics gold medal with Tony Gunawan, said that it is undeniable that the doubles sector is Indonesia's face-saving in various competitions.

"History has proven that the double sector is an actractive and attractive game so that it is in great demand and enjoyed by its lovers," he said.

The All England 2024 title is the best Indonesian men's doubles achievement this year. The record was obtained by Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto.

Unfortunately, the world's former number one pair failed to appear impressive when they were in Paris. At the 2024 Olympics, their journey only reached the quarter-finals.

Apart from the men's doubles, women's doubles Apriyani Rahayu Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti and mixed doubles Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari could not speak much at the time.

The two pairs could not even qualify from the group stage. At that time, Apri/Fadia did not win, while Rinov/Pitha only won once.