Qualifying for the prestigious Olympic Games is for many athletes the ultimate goal.

National shuttler Greysia Polii, 32, is well aware that she may not have much runway left in her career, and so she is working as hard as she possibly can to return to the Olympics in what could be her final chance to win gold on the top stage.

One of the most seasoned players at the national training center, Greysia feels that it is “now or never” when it comes to earning a spot at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, hinting that next year’s event might be her last chance to make Indonesia proud.

Greysia is familiar with the Olympics, having previously qualified in the last two editions of the Summer Games in London in 2012 and Rio de Janeiro in 2016.

Her debut at the Olympics was unfortunately marred with a harsh sanction. In the London run, Greysia and then-partner Meiliana Djauhari, were disqualified along with China’s Yu Yang and Wang Xiaoli as well as South Korean pairs Kim Ha-na and Jung Kyung-eun and Ha Jung-eun and Kim Min-jung for failing to display Olympic standards of sportsmanship in their last group stage matches.

After evaluating their performances, the tournament referees concluded that the four pairs, all of which had secured spots in the knockout round, deliberately tried to lose their respective matches in order to avoid facing a group winner in the knockouts.

Now, Greysia admits to feeling serious pressure ahead of Tokyo, especially with a schedule packed with qualification tournaments and strong opponents from China, Japan and South Korea.

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