Muristek
KUALA LUMPUR, June 16 — Indonesian former mixed doubles great Liliyana Natsir has been inducted into the Badminton World Federation (BWF) Hall of Fame.
The world badminton ruling body said the former Olympic gold medallist and four time world champion will be officially recognised at a ceremony during the ongoing Indonesia Open on Saturday (June 18).
BWF president Poul-Erik Hoyer while congratulating the 36-year-old Liliyana, believes she will continue to inspire many more generations.
“It is a rare honour for an athlete to be named to the BWF Hall of Fame, and Liliyana richly deserves this accolade. She was a delight to watch as she somehow made a very difficult art look easy.
“With an Olympic gold and silver, and four World Championships gold medals, Liliyana built a stellar record. She was among the very best mixed doubles players throughout her career,” Hoyer said in a statement.
With her unique, unfussy style and tremendous record over more than a decade before retirement in 2019, Liliyana is a standout figure of world badminton.
She won her first major title — the World Championships — in 2005 with Nova Widianto, before the duo went on to claim World Cup and the Asian Championships in 2016, another World Championships gold in 2007, and winning the Beijing 2008 Olympic Games silver medal.
Liliyana, who was then paired with Tontowi Ahmad, won another two World Championships in 2013 and 2017, three straight All England titles (2012-2014) and Indonesia’s first Olympics mixed doubles gold medal, defeating the Malaysian pair of Chan Peng Soon-Goh Liu Ying in the 2016 Rio edition. — Bernama