Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu brought the country to a joyful standstill when they prevailed over the Chinese pair of Chen Qingchen and Jia Yifan on Aug 2.
The win was especially heartening for Polii who has endured a long and winding road to get to that point.
“Our target was (to win) a medal. But we didn’t expect the medal to be gold. So this is something that is beyond our comprehension,” she said during a press conference on Aug 6.
Her partner Rahayu, 23, added: “I didn’t expect it for sure… and even though our target was to win a medal, I personally didn’t think about the medal … Step by step, match by match… I was just trying to get rid of distracting thoughts.”
Their coach Eng Hian said the duo were tense not only during the match, but also when awaiting their regular polymerase chain reaction (PRC) test result.
“I wasn’t focused on the (game) result, but I saw how Greysia and Apriyani enjoyed every day,” he said.
President Joko Widodo has congratulated the duo on maintaining the tradition to win gold and said the entire nation was proud of them.
As Polii is already in her thirties, she has indicated that she is waiting for the right time to retire. She almost bid adieu after the 2016 Rio de Janeiro Olympics when her then partner Nitya Krishinda Maheswari suffered from an injury.
But she was then paired with her junior Rahayu, hence delaying her retirement plans. Polii got married at the end of last year and has admitted that she is thinking about when to have a child.
Source: Channel News Asia
