Tokyo: Indonesia’s World No. 6 women’s doubles pair – Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu defeated World No. 2 Chen QingChen/Jia YiFan of China 21-19, 21-15 to win the first-ever Olympic women’s doubles gold medal for their country on Monday.
In the final, Polii/Rahayu played patiently, pushing Jia Yifan to both sides of the backcourt, and were ready to pound when the opportunity arose.
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Polii’s backhand drop shots and smashes were strong enough to pressure the Chinese pair to avoid hitting her backhand while Rahayu was extremely proactive on her defense by covering the court with quick speed.
Furthermore, Chen QingChen of China was making a lot of unforced errors in the second set to put themselves trailing by 3-7, 9-18, allowing the Indonesian pair to wrap up the second easily and took the gold in a 57-minute battle.
The victory was the fourth win for the Indonesians over the Chinese pair in their 10 meetings.
Greysia Polii had a rocky road to the Olympic gold medal. At the 2012 London Summer Olympics, Polii and her partner Meiliana Jauhari, along with Jung Kyung-eun and Kim Ha-na, Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung of South Korea, and Wang Xiaoli and Yu Yang of China were disqualified from the competition for “not using one’s best efforts to win a match”.
“So many people, not just me, have been through hardships and unforgettable moments as well. I guess the London Olympics taught me to never give up on my dreams. I know I’m not just saying it, I want to mean it every day of my life. I’m just really going day by day, it’s just a bonus from God that I can be here and in the Olympic final in 2021,” said Polii to Indonesian media before the final match of the Tokyo Games.
At the 2016 Rio Olympics, she partnered Maheswari and was able to advance to the knocked-out stage before losing to Chinese pair Tang Yuanting and Yu Yang in straight games 11–21, 14–21.
Maheswari then decided to retire early due to shoulder surgery and Polii had thought about quitting the sport, but her coach Eng Hian and her family convinced her to keep playing.
The unfortunate incidents for Polii didn’t end here, she was dealt with a tough blow end of 2020 when her brother passed away on December 23, 2020, the day when Greysia got married.
Meanwhile, on August 2, 2021, Polii cried again. But, this time, she was crying tears of joy as she stood on the Olympic podium with Rahayu to receive the Olympic gold medal. Congratulations to both Indonesian players!
In the women’s doubles bronze medal playoff, the World No. 5 Kim Soyeong/Kong Heeyong have consistently outpaced compatriots, World No. 4 Lee Sohee/Shin Seungchan 21-10, 21-17 for the bronze, which was the only medal for the Korean badminton team at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
