Indonesian shuttlers Leo Rolly Carnando and Indah Cahya Sari Jamil decided to walk almost 9 kilometers from the stadium hall to their hotel after securing the 2018 Badminton World Junior Championship in Markham, Ontario, Canada recently.

The walk was not some spontaneous gesture but rather to fulfill an early promise that they would walk home to the hotel should they win the tournament.

“Indah texted me at night after our quarter final match that we would vow to walk from the hall to the hotel if we could win the title,” Leo recounted in a press conference in Jakarta on Monday.

“At first, I vowed that I wanted to fast if I could win the title. After much consideration, I felt like walking somehow would be more meaningful,” Indah said, completing his partner’s story.

The underdogs were able to fulfill their dream as they stunned their compatriots Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti at the 2018 World Junior Championship final on Nov. 18.

Leo, 17, and Indah, 16, beat the second seeds in two games 21-15 and 21-9.

The young pair’s journey to the top podium was a tough one. They beat the first seed Guo Xinwa and Liu Xuanxuan of China in straight games in the third round. Their glory continued as they sent home another Chinese pair eighth seeds Shang Yichen and Zhang Shuxian 21-15 and 24-22 in the semifinal.

Leo and Indah have only been playing together as a pair since the 2018 Malaysia International Junior Open in August.

Their compatriots Rehan and Siti were favored to win the Canada title given the fact they were runners up in the 2017 championship. But Leo and Indah proved that their perseverance could break down any obstacle.

The pair learned a lot from their first World Junior Championship’s experience to step up their game in the future. Technical matters such as maintaining their focus during the game and improving their footwork were among the tasks that they needed to work on.

Meanwhile, this year’s championship result for Rehan and Siti means they have to be satisfied with the runners-up title two years in a row. This year will be their last junior year as they will start competing at the senior level next year.

Despite failing to achieve their target, both Rehan and Siti said they were still satisfied and did not want to burden themselves with the failure as they knew the real battle awaited them in the senior level.

“They [Leo and Indah] were more ready than us in the final. And we felt like we wanted to win it so bad since it was our last World Junior Championship,” Siti said.

To appreciate the achievement of all four players in the World Junior Championship, Djarum Foundation showered them with bonuses as part of the foundation’s commitment to appreciating the hard work of badminton players.

Both Leo and Indah received Rp 40 million (US$2,748) and a Rp 10 million voucher from e-commerce platform Blibli.com and online booking site Tiket.com. Rehan and Siti meanwhile received Rp 20 million and a voucher for Rp 5 million.

The women’s doubles pairs Siti and Agatha Imanuella and Ribka Sugiarto and Febriana Dwipuji also received bonuses for their achievement as bronze medalists in the tournament.

Program director of Bakti Olahraga Djarum Foundation Yopi Rosimin said the cash prizes were a token of the appreciation for all the hard work and training the players had endured. He added that the cash prizes would be given in the form of bank deposits since they were deemed underage and could lose control over cash prizes.

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