W

hat is so special in the All-England glory of young badminton players Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto on Sunday? They spared Indonesia'€™s blushes with a straight-set defeat of Denmark'€™s Joachim Fischer Nielsen/Christinna Pedersen for the mixed doubles'€™ title. Their victory also brings Indonesia back onto the world badminton map.

Over the past years, the All England has not been friendly to Indonesian players, once the dominant power, especially in the singles events. Last year, Indonesia went home empty-handed after winning either the men'€™s doubles or mixed doubles titles in previous years.

In the All England, the oldest and most prestigious badminton tournament, Indonesia is now trailing other nations in terms of titles won. Indonesia'€™s collection of 44 trophies, including the one from Praveen and Debby, is far behind England, Denmark and China, which have won 189, 87 and 80 titles, respectively.

Before Sunday'€™s finals, Indonesia had anticipated another trophy-less run after the top-ranked mixed doubles team of Tontowi Ahmad and Lilyana Natsir, the 2012-2014 champions, and men'€™s doubles pair of Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan, the 2014 champions, made an early exit.

In their triumphant run, including their shocking win over the top seeds in the semifinals, both Debby and Praveen have restored the confidence of their badminton fans at home that regeneration in the national team starts to bear fruit. The young studs showed they are ready to fill the shoes of their seniors. It is not unreasonable for the nation to now pin its hopes on Praveen and Debby to shine in the Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro in August and expect their win to inspire other young players to follow their path to success.

The young team has indeed proved to be in possession of skills beyond their age. They already have the experience of competing in international multi-sporting events, especially Praveen and Debby who won the Southeast Asian (SEA) Games gold medal in Singapore last year and the bronze medal at the Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, in 2014.

Like or not, Indonesia will still rely on badminton to win medals at the Olympics. Between 1992 and 2008, Indonesia notched up achievements on the Olympic gold medal tally thanks to badminton players. In the last Olympics in 2012, for the first time since 1992, Indonesia did not take any badminton medals.

With a total of 10,500 participating athletes from 206 countries, Indonesia will be among the smallest teams at the Rio Olympics. As in the previous Olympics, Indonesia expects to shine in badminton and weightlifting.

But there is no need to get overexcited by the All England victory of Praveen and Debby, unless they clinch the Olympic gold medals. They will also have to prove their consistency in the following five Super Series tournaments before going to Rio.

As for the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI), among its tough tasks will be to help clubs across the country groom young talent and encourage more domestic competitions that will expose them to a competitive environment before they are ready to take on international challenges.