Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —
Bintang badminton the world is united in giving sky-high praise to Istora Senayan and Indonesian supporters. They will never forget the memory of competing in the event Indonesia Masters 2023.
Malaysian men’s doubles Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik felt the magic of Istora while competing. They were flattered by the heavy support from the Indonesian audience in the arena.
“Indonesian supporters are very kind, they always support us when we win or lose. Even though we are not Indonesian, they give us a lot of support. We are happy with that and enthusiastic when playing at Istora,” said Chia.
“Always excited to play at Istora. The audience is very supportive when we get or don’t get points. I am grateful to be able to play here. Thank you to the supporters. We hope to meet them in Malaysia,” Yik added.
The festive atmosphere at Istora even made India’s men’s singles Lakshya Sen jealous. He imagines badminton lovers in his home country as ‘crazy’ as Indonesia.
“It’s great, if one day there are as many Indian fans as here, I will certainly be very grateful. It feels amazing to be able to compete in front of so many people. I get a lot of support,” said Sen.
The ‘Queen of Spanish Badminton’ Carolina Marin conveyed the same thing. The Spanish women’s singles is always happy to be in action at Istora even though she once had a bad memory due to a serious injury at the 2019 Indonesia Masters.
“Unbelievable, hard to find words for them but hard to believe. It feels good to see people here live with badminton. I can’t compare it to my country. If compared, maybe it’s like the people who love football in my country ,” he said.
The enthusiasm of the Indonesian supporters made the Japanese men’s doubles, Yugo Kobayashi/Takuro Hoki, joke that they wanted to be considered Indonesian citizens if they competed at Istora.
Even though Yugo/Takuro’s steps at the Indonesia Masters 2023 ended in the quarter-finals, happiness still shone on their faces.
“Please pretend that I am Indonesian too. I ask for your support as if I were Indonesian,” said Kobayashi, laughing.
The Indonesia Masters 2023, which is a BWF Super 500 Tournament, is joined by various world badminton stars to compete for a total prize of US$420 thousand or the equivalent of IDR 6.29 billion.
(ikw/har)
