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em>JP/P.J.LeoThere was a time when Indonesia led the badminton world, thanks to one of its most hardworking shuttlers, Lucia Francisca Susi Susanti, popularly known as Susi Susanti.

Shining on the world’s stage during the early 1990s, Susi, 41, bagged one Olympics gold medal in Barcelona (1992) and one bronze medal in Atlanta (1996). She also won multiple prestigious titles from the All England to World championships and, with them, became a legend in the sport.

Susi, along with her husband and fellow shuttler Alan Budikusuma, who was also an Olympian, retired after Atlanta and established a sports equipment business, Astec, in 1997.

Susi says she always reads in her spare time, with detective novels being her firm favorite.

“The fact that you are presented with a problem and have to try to decipher the way to solve it [in detective books]; that’s like a challenge for me,” Susi told The Jakarta Post.

When she was still playing badminton, she used to read novels by Sidney Sheldon or romance stories by Indonesian author Marga Tjoa, as a way to fill in time during flights or between matches.

Now that she has started her own business, she relies on books for inspiration in making firm and good decisions. For this, she primarily turns to writings by Indonesian motivational speaker, Mario Teguh.

Sidney Sheldon novels

I love Sheldon’s works. Most of the stories in his books have a positive vibe and lessons that can be applied in my daily life. From his books, I have learned that there is a way to solve every problem I might be faced with.

Lima Sekawan di Pulau Harta Karun by Enid Blyton

Like most other Blyton stories, Lima Sekawan di Pulau Harta Karun (The Famous Five on a Treasure Island) is an adventure journey, telling about how the gang is faced with a mystery and has to solve it. It fed my imagination when I read it. I have always loved challenges and I got a lot of pleasure reading this story. It was good refreshment after a hard training session or a tough match.

Leadership Golden Ways by Mario Teguh

I am always mesmerized by how Mario motivates people through his great choice of words. He is always reminding us to keep working hard and never surrender.

According to Mario, nothing is impossible as long as we put commitment into our efforts. I’ve proved it in badminton and I believe I can achieve success in my current challenge: business.

— Niken Prathivi