Liliyana Natsir, one of the country’s top shuttlers, has hinted that this year’s Indonesia Open could be her last, but instead of elaborating further she vowed an all-out performance instead.

“Most likely this will be my last Indonesia Open. But, I don’t want to think that this is my last appearance, so I need to achieve greater things and not let it disrupt my performance. I just want to give my best,” she said at a press briefing in Jakarta.  

In last year’s Indonesia Open, Liliyana and Tontowi succeed in winning their first Indonesian Open title together as partners. It was Liliyana’s first Indonesia Open title in the mixed doubles category as previously she had only finished runner up with two different partners, namely Nova Widianto and Tontowi Ahmad.

Liliyana won the Indonesia Open in 2008 in the women’s doubles when she was paired with Vita Marissa, beating Miyuki Maeda and Satoko Suetsuna in the final.

Many still believe that Liliyana’s and Tontowi’s success in last year’s Indonesia Open was mainly because of the change of venue, where last year’s edition was held at the Jakarta Convention Center.

The tournament organizers did not use the regular venue at Istora Senayan for last year’s tournament because of renovation works for the 18th Asian Games.

Liliyana said she wanted to dismiss the doubts by defending her title with Tontowi.

“The young guns are on fire so it is up to me and Owi [Tontowi] to play clever as we are behind our young opponents in terms of speed and strength,” she said.

“In terms of age, I might be 10 years older than them. But in the court, we don’t want to lose.  Now, it’s up to us to design a good strategy because we excel in terms of experience,” she added.

She later confirmed that she would play after the Asian Games until the end of this year with her partner Tontowi Ahmad. After that, she could not assure whether she would still play the shuttlecock in the international arena.

“Owi hopes that I will change my mind but I think that I will retire at the end of this year,” she said.                                        

During her career Liliyana has yet to win an Asian Games gold medal. Her best achievement in the sporting event was at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, where she won silver in the mixed doubles category.

Throughout her career, the Manado-born athlete has achieved a number of prestigious titles as she is considered one of the country’s best badminton players. Starting from four World Championship titles to two Olympic medals, 2016’s gold and 2008’s silver, she has experienced everything that a badminton player could dream of. Liliyana is also considered one of Indonesia’s richest athletes.

After retiring from the sport, Liliyana said she plans to focus on business. She now owns a family reflexology service in Gading Serpong, Banten and is also focusing on her property business.

When asked whether she would become a coach, she said she was not sure as she believed not many players could turn into good coaches despite their achievements.

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