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ixed doubles player Tontowi Ahmad can’t stop smiling whenever he recalls the day his neighbors flocked to a large TV placed in the front yard of his parents’ home in Selandaka village to watch him and his teammate Liliyana Natsir win the recent India Open Super Series final.

It was his first Super Series title, which the 24-year-old has determined won’t be his last. Not long
after the stint in New Delhi, Tontowi and Liliyana snatched another title at the Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold.

“If it wasn’t because of my father, I wouldn’t continue to play badminton at this level, which I realize is not my highest yet. That’s why I will keep improving until I reach the highest level and make my parents even prouder of me,” said the native of Purwokerto, Central Java, whose crystal clear aims are to get a world champion title this year and an Olympic gold medal in London next year.

“I’m also so grateful that I can be paired with a great player like Liliyana, whom I always watched when she was playing with Nova [Widianto]. I never imagined having this opportunity,” said Tontowi, who joined the Djarum badminton club at the age of 17 and has since become a self-proclaimed fan of the former world number one Indonesian mixed doubles player Nova Widianto.

Tontowi acknowledged that his recent victories made him hunger for more.

In only nine days, Tontowi and Liliyana, who were elevated to the ranking of world top 10 after their double triumphs, will be departing for Qingdao, China, with Indonesia’s elite shuttlers to defend the nation at the prestigious Sudirman Cup World Team Championships on May 22-29. The world-class biennial event will feature 33 teams from Europe and Asia.

It will be Tontowi’s first stint in the championship named after Dick Sudirman, a former Indonesian shuttler and the founder of the Indonesia Badminton Association (PBSI).

“As it is a team event championship, my main pride will be to play my best and contribute points for Indonesia,” Tontowi said, adding that he will be focusing on getting his stamina back during the few preparation days left before departing for China on Thursday of next week.

Indonesia has only won the Sudirman Cup once, at its inauguration in 1989, while South Korea has won three times.

The host China has won seven times, the last three were in 2005, 2007 and 2009. China, Japan and Germany are in this year’s A sub-group.

Indonesia is in sub-group 1B with Malaysia — with whom Indonesia shared the 2009 Sudirman Cup semifinal spot — and Russia. Only the top two teams will advance to the quarterfinals.

National doubles team head coach Christian Hadinata said that Indonesia must not take group B’s opponents lightly, despite the confidence boost from the latest mixed double triumphs and finals and semifinals stints in the men’s doubles and women’s doubles, respectively.

“During those two events, badminton powerhouses like Denmark, China and Korea did not field players. The Sudirman Cup is the real testing ground and it will not come as easy as the previous events,” Christian said.

“It is a fact that Indonesia is not that high-ranking among the others. So, we’ll be really careful even in facing Russia,” said Christian, adding that Russia should be seen as an elite opponent as it is among the 12 seeded teams. Indonesia, seeded third — under top seed China and second seed Denmark — will face Russia on May 22 and Malaysia on May 25.

Indonesia will be fighting with 18 shuttlers: men’s singles Taufik Hidayat, Simon Santoso and Dyonisius Hayom Rumbaka; women’s singles Adriyanti Firdasari and Lindaweni Fanetri; men’s doubles Bona Septano, Mohammad Ahsan, Alvent Yulianto and Hendra Aprida Gunawan; women’s doubles Greysia Polii, Meiliana Jauhari, Nitya Krishinda and Anneke Feinya Agustine; as well as mixed doubles Tontowi Ahmad, Liliyana Natsir, Fran Kurniawan, Pia Zebadiah and Debby Susanto.

Due to Hendra’s recent injury, Indonesia’s best men’s duo Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan were scrapped from the Sudirman Cup squad list. Christian believed that it was the right decision.

“When an athlete is not fit we better not play them so that they won’t be injured worse. It’s best to simply send the freshest ones.”