Putri Kusuma Wardani, A Promising Young Player Who Called Me Tense In The Sudirman Cup

Putri Kusuma Wardani (Photo: PBSI)

JAKARTA - The young badminton player Putri Kusuma Wardani is defending Indonesia for the first time in the Sudirman Cup team tournament. Although he claimed to be very passionate, it was undeniable that there was tension ahead of the first match he was playing.

"I feel happy and happy to be part of this team. But I'm also a bit tense because even though it's not my first time participating in a team event, the Sudirman Cup is a big and even more top event," said Putri in an official statement from PBSI.

The badminton player from Tangerang, Banten was recorded as having been included in the Indonesian team team when they competed in the Team Asia Championships in Manila, Philippines 2020. Even in that championship, Putri contributed points when dealing with the host representative.

In the opening two games of Sudirman Cup Group C, Putri was left out when Indonesia beat the Russian Olympic Committee (ROC) 5-0 on Sunday and when they beat Kanda 3-2 on Tuesday. He only played in the Group C decider against Denmark last Wednesday.

However, Denmark's singles player Mia Blichfeldt is still too strong for the Princess. In the second match of the day, Putri, who is ranked 136 in the world, failed to add points for the Indonesian team. He lost three games 11-21, 21-16, 14-21 in 54 minutes at Energia Areena, Vantaa, Finland.

Mia's victory brought Denmark level to 1-1 after previously the Kevin/Marcus pair brought Indonesia 1-0 up.

Putri trailed since the match started in the first game and was unable to catch up to her opponent's points, until the Danes closed the first game with a 21-11 victory.

In the second game, Putri improved her game and managed to tighten the points at the beginning of the game to 4-4 before leading 6-4. He continued to lead until his opponent equalized 10-10 before taking a narrow 11-10 lead at the interval.

From the interval, the Spain Masters champion continued to lead and raced to win the second game 21-16 when Mia's serve failed.

However, Mia, who is ranked far above Putri, started the decider game with six consecutive points to open a fairly large gap in numbers.

The Danish player ranked 12th in the world continued to lead until the 11-3 interval.

After the interval, Putri managed to shorten the distance to 9-11 before falling behind again. He added several points before Mia closed the match with a 21-14 victory, as well as equalizing for Denmark 1-1.

The Head of PP PBSI's Achievement Development Division, Rionny Mainaky, said that Putri's defeat to Mia was solely due to lack of consistency.

"Princess is just not consistent. There are doubts. Especially after getting a fault, it will also affect her next appearance in the third game," said Rionny after the match through PP PBSI's press release.

"I was a bit tense at the beginning too. But the support and support from the seniors who cheered me on from the sidelines made me calmer and able to play more confidently," said Putri.

Faults in the third game, Putri admitted, disrupted her focus so that it affected her overall play in the deciding game.

"Having a fault earlier made my focus waver. Losing two points at the start affected my performance in the deciding game," said Putri.

Meanwhile, the women's singles coach, Herli Djaenudin said, due to lack of consistency, the victory in the second game could not be maintained by Putri in the decisive game.

"It's just not consistent. After winning in the second game, Putri couldn't even play well anymore like when she won the match in the second game," said Herli.

Even so, as a young player, Putri learned many important lessons in this Sudirman Cup. He could meet the more senior top-ranked players.

"Hopefully she can learn a lot from the experience in the Sudirman Cup. This defeat should of course be a lesson for Putri (currently ranked 136 in the world) to train harder so that in the future she can compete with other world's top players in the next matches," said Herli.

Regarding the selection of women to appear against Denmark, Head of Binpres Rionny Mainaky said, Putri was chosen to compete because in the final preparations, she was more prepared than Gregoria Mariska Tunjung. In addition, Putri also has speed and confidence.

Indonesia finally won 3-2 after Praveen/Melati mixed doubles successfully reversed the Indonesian team's advantage to 3-2 over Denmark and at the same time brought the Red and White team out as winners of Group C Sudirman Cup.

Furthermore, Indonesia still has to wait for the draw to determine its opponent in the quarter-finals, which will be held on Friday the day after tomorrow.