Indonesia has won Olympic gold in only one sport: badminton.
On Monday, the world’s fourth most populous nation notched another badminton victory when Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu claimed gold in the women’s doubles event. It was the first gold for Indonesia at the Tokyo Games and the eighth in the country’s Olympic history.
Polii and Apriyani overwhelmed the former world champions, Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan of China, in straight sets, 21-19, 21-15, delivering precision strikes of the shuttlecock combined with fluttery shots that left their opponents lunging in vain. Toward the end of the match, Polii had to race off court midrally to change her racket because of a busted string but returned to win.