Time To Compete In Exhibition Match With World Badminton Players, Greysia Polii Recalls Indonesia Masters Title At Retirement Moment

Greysia Polii officially retired. (Photo: VOI/Cosmas Kopong Beda)

JAKARTA — Greysia Polii reminisced about winning the Indonesia Masters 2020 when she officially decided to retire at Istora Senayan, Jakarta, on June 12, 2022.

The 34-year-old badminton player spent 30 years of her life as a professional badminton athlete. During that time she has successfully awarded a number of important titles for Indonesia.

One of the titles that means the most to her is the Indonesia Masters, which she and Apriyani Rahayu won in 2020. This title is special because it was obtained in front of the public itself.

Greysia said that winning the title at Istora was definitely the dream of the majority of Indonesian athletes. For that, her success in doing that automatically became one of the best moments in her career.

"Even though it was only once, it was a precious moment for me before I stated that I wanted to stop being an athlete," she said in her remarks at the farewell event entitled "Greysia Polii Testimonial Day" on Sunday, June 12.

The Jakarta-born athlete in 1987 began to pursue badminton at the age of five. She then joined the PB Jaya Raya club before spending 19 years at the PBSI National Training Center.

After achieving various achievements, Greysia Polii also decided to retire from badminton after reaching the peak of her career by getting a gold medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics last year.

She won the prestigious competition in women's doubles with her partner Apriyani Rahayu. The gold medal was brought home after defeating China's representatives Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan.

"Love and love from Indonesia, who constantly give me strength. Day by day I continue to force myself to faithfully give the best that I can," she said.

Greysia's farewell ceremony was attended by several important figures. Among them were Menpora Zainudin Amali, PBSI chairman Agung Firman Sampurna, and KOI chairman Raja Sapta Oktohari.

Famous athletes such as Jonatan Christie, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, Hendra Setiawan, Wang Chi-Lin, Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei), Sapsiree Taerattanachai, Jongkolphan Kititharakul (Thailand), Wang Yilyu, Wang Dongping (China), Yuta Watanabe (Japan), Misaki Matsutomo, Ashwini Ponnappa (India), Shin Seung Chan (South Korea), and Muralitharan Thinaah (Malaysia), also took part in this event. They played an exhibition match with Greysia Polii.