The Day When Banyuwangi's Boy Upset An Olympic Gold Medalist

[caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="576" caption="Kevin is doing a Mia Audina-esque (photo: PBSI)"][/caption] There are several things that a shuttler might do when he/she is frustrated. The best one such as Lee Chong Wei would only complained to the umpire and let it go without further follow up action. The good one would keep complaining and do ‘a silent strike’ for few minutes, though he/she knew that would lead to a yellow card. Well, they never care, did they? And of course, the world always have the bad guy. This kind of player(s) most likely would do following things: toss the racket to the air and wait for the result of the incoming racket, either remain in a good shape or get back to the bag in no-shape. Or you can just smash it to the court to ensure the life of the racket is over. To make the like of Zhang Nan, world number 1 mixed doubles, to do the latest action, you must be a real good player. Not many players are able to push him for such a rage. So, if you were able to do that, you’ve gotta be a real deal. So, Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, still 18 year old, is now a real deal of badminton world. He absolutely is. Paired with Greysia Polii for the first time in an official tournament, he put a fascinating yet amazing display to win the match against Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei in a rubber game lasted for 69 minutes, 15-21, 21-18, 23-21. And that was just the first round of the tournament. You rarely see Zhang /Zhao, a couple, discussed something before taking a serve. What we saw most of the time was them giving codes by their fingers. There has to be something happened there. The Duo ZZ was in pressure. A big, big pressure. They’re the defending champion, they must win this tourney so their world ranking points not dropped. And right before them, a small and young boy stands only at less than 170 cm. They simply can't lose in such a match. They didn’t have any clue about this boy. They might already knew about the girl, but obviously not the boy. This Kevin never featured in a super series tournament before. Not even once I tell you. The Flying Kevin, as the Thailand media gave the nickname in World Junior Championships 2013, was literally everywhere. He went forth and back, left to right, as if he didn’t care about his next men doubles match with Selvanus Geh several hours later. He played as if the net wasn’t there to exist. All he cared about is to attack Duo ZZ with power while maintaining the solid defence. [caption id="" align="aligncenter" width="336" caption="Now you know where the nickname came from (photo: PB Djarum)"][/caption] The boy from Banyuwangi, a town far to the east of Jakarta,  has done it superbly well. Not many people are able to upset Zhang Nan. He was flying here, there, and everywhere to gave the opponent strong smashes. His netting was good, he covered the court well, got the guts in a drive battle, and for the love of good, some neat and tricky shots. Let’s call it Sigit Budiarto-esque. Zhang, 24 y.o., complained alot when Kevin/Greysia got the 21st  point of the ultimate game. Unfortunately for him, but fortunately for the Indonesian, the umpire didn’t agree with his claim that the shuttlecock hit both Kevin and Greysia’s rackets. The boos from Istora followed in a second. At the end of the match, the London 2012 gold medalist was furios. He smashed his racket, which I presumed priced at $125 or higher, to the court. You just can’t wish the best for the racket. It was in no-shape. The racket would surely be a witness of a shocking moment in Indonesia Open Super Series Premier 2014: when the defending champion, world number one, Olympic gold medalist, got eliminated early. Much, much early.

©Shesar_Andri, June 18th 2014

Doing this piece so I have a better chance to score 6.5 or higher on IELTS