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Badminton star confirms rumors of retirement

Indonesia's top men's doubles player Tony Gunawan shocked badminton fans by announcing his retirement from the Indonesian Badminton Center (PBI) in order to study abroad.

Tony - who this year won the All England and World Champion titles with partner Halim Haryanto - said he planned to continue studying computer science but rejected speculation that he would move to another country.

"I am an Indonesian and I will be the same. Even if I play abroad, it's more to earn income to finance my study. I won't represent another country in a multisports event. I promise you that," he told The Jakarta Post by phone on Tuesday.

"I'm aiming to study as I realize that badminton won't be able to guarantee my future. This is the right moment to start studying although I'm ready if my study isn't as successful as badminton. If I wait until my retirement, it's too late for me to continue studying," he said, giving a hint that he might study in the United States.

The Kuala Lumpur 2001 Southeast Asian (SEA) Games finalist, with Bambang Suprianto, said he preferred to study in a country which was no contest to Indonesia in badminton.

Rumors about Tony's retirement began circulating last week but he denied the speculation, saying he would make an announcement when he was ready.

Tony, who last year won a gold medal at the Sydney Olympics with Candra Wijaya, denied that he had lost the motivation to play.

"Every time I remember the moment I was presented with the gold for Indonesia, I'm very proud. I really want to do that again in the future, but that's impossible."

He said he hadn't followed the path of his girlfriend Etty Tantri, Indonesia's women's double shuttler.

Etty quit badminton after competing at the Sudirman Cup and World Championships in Seville, Spain, in May, to continue studying in the United States.

Tony was born in Surabaya on April 9, 1975, the youngest of Budianto Gunawan and Handayani Halim's three children. He has won most Grand Prix series titles and multisports events, except the SEA Games and Asian Games golds.

Tony's partner Halim will team up with junior Lulu Hadianto and prepare for their debut in the Denmark Open this month.

Tony said he would still practice and serve as a practice partner at the center in Cipayung, East Jakarta.

"I have explained to my teammates and they understand my decision. I will still help them with the training until my departure."

What??!!
How can this be.......

sad for the badminton community, but i admire his priorities. more power to him in whatever he pursues in the computer science field.

OMIGOD..... HOW CAN THIS BE?????

What a terrible piece of news.

WHAT A WASTE OF TALENT........
so halim will go down the drain for sure,
then INA only have candra/sigit,
esp halim need tony to help him play well or he will play very badly

oh ya n candra/sigit also will go down becoz they dun have tony/halim to spar with anymore.

I think it is a very wise decision. An Mba will def pay him more than any Badminton tournament! He has realised his childhood dream. Now he is agrown man and has to carry on with his life as he has other things to take care of.

I appreciate his decision adn boldness to take that decision!

U will be a success in any field if u can take such daring decisions!

OH MY GOODNESS.... this is totally SHOCKING.

which means we won't even get to see him play for a 'last time'?!
oh man, good luck to Ina for TC....

the anti-ina ppl must be rejoicing now. oh da*n. (sorry)

oh well, best wishes to you Tony.

MBA? You mean he already has a basic degree in comp sci?

Anyway, yah..it was a very hard decision to make. Since he is at the top and to leave right now. He never mentioned exactly when (as in end of year etc) he would leave, but does that mean he won't be participating in any more (last) tournament? Suporters would definitely miss him a lot.

What's his highest qualifications? in what field?

probably secondary or pre-U level. most INA players stop sch once their in national junior squad, probably at 16-17 yrs old.

li yongbo must be jumping with joy!! damn!! but zhang/zhang will still lose to candra/sigit. must expose rony more to mature by TC then INA will have hendrawan, taufik, marleve, rony.

PROBABLE LINE-UP
1st single: taufik
1st double: candra/sigit
2nd single: hendrawan
2nd double: halim/bambang/tri kus
3rd single: marleve or rony

this way INA still has a good chance to retain the thomas cup.

frankly speaking, ina having 'a good chance' is now too optimistic a way of looking at it. they've lost the only advantage they hold over the other ctys.

and if they're using the 7-pt system, hendrawan wouldn't play. Actually it wouldn't make a diff whether he plays or not, cos even if he does, he wouldn't do well.

moreover, if guangzhou wins the bid, you can expect the zhangs to create the same upset tt liu/chen did to candra/sigit.

isn't PBSI gonna do anything abt it? like persuading him to stay or sth???? ={

I have been a doubles player for only a short time but i have admired Tony since i 1st re-joined my badminton team and saw Candra/Tony take the gold in Sydney. I even had the honour to meet him in person at the Singapore Open. he has been my favourite badminton player even before the Candra/Tony combo was formed........ i feel very disapointed to see him go, but i respect his decision as he should know whats best for him.

Good luck Tony in whatever you do!!!

Byro-Nenium
Tony Gunawan's no.1 fan!!

I really hope he's going to continue his study in Singapore !!!
Imagine if he join our session...

What a great loss to the badminton field! Very sad news but a wise decision. He might continue to play if he were still with Candra as they were such a perfect match. Being a great talent in badminton and considered by many as the best doubles player, what is the point of staying if he is always ranked second place to S/C.

Tony, wherever and whatever you will be, best wishes for you.

I dunno why some of u sound so sad.

And what, may I ask, is so unnatural abt that?

Fr the POV of anyone who appreciates badminton, it's a loss of talent.
Fr the POV of an INA fan, the ctry's Thomas Cup chances are as good as gone.
Fr the POV of a Tony Gunawan fan, well, you'll never get to see ur idol play again.

I'm all three.

TO INDONESIAN COMPATRIOTS:

Indonesian MD coach Heri IP says he can produce players of the same calibre as Tony, in two years time. so INA will still dominate MD. this coach has the credit of candra, sigit, tony, halim, flandy, eng hian and i think even ricky/rexy was under him if i remember correctly. he even indicated that 1 of the junior pairs has a good chance of rising up to the same level as candra/sigit/tony/halim. so we can be sad for tony leaving INA, but we can be assured that there WILL BE a replacement for this loss.

our TC chances are still alive. remember how tony/halim almost lost to trikus/bambang, in fact they won becoz bambang injured? so trikus/bambang can take tony/halim place as second doubles

May and Adel can have a tug war ;)
two little girls fighting.. :(

Trikus and Bambang have not yet had the opportunity to show if they can consistently produce good results playing together. Past results would give a favourable impression.

pls dun add fuel to the fire......

stop rationalising---- the Indonesian T-Cup team has , of late, been significantly weakened relative to the other powerhouses.....esp. China & perhaps Malaysia.

OH SHUT THE F*** UP.

Agree, albeit reluctantly.

only a fool will write off indonesia from the thomas cup....

Did anybody write off Indonesia's hopes in the Thomas Cup?

All that can be said is they have a weaker team for the forseeable future.

BTW, Tony G can study in HK as well......it might be cheaper!! (dream on, dream on)


How would he be able to finance his studies. I don't think US Universities would give much in the way of Sports scholarships to a badminton player....even to a world and olympic champion.

Perhaps he add some video clips to an electronic curriculum vitae.

Thank you Cheung. You took those words right out of my mouth.

hey, thought Cheung is only a doctor. not a dentist...

Hmm ..

He could come to Singapore !!

Well, we definitely satisfy his criteria as being 'no-competition' for Indonesia. Besides he has Indra Wijaya and Ronal Susilo to keep him company ...

Its near to home ..

Its cheaper than the States...

He won't get racist slurs thrown at him ...

There's plenty of people to speak to him in Bahasa or English ... or even Mandarin.

.... And the SBA will definitely welcome him with open arms !!

.... And he still get mugged by loads of badminton fans when he does go walking around in towns .... :)

Tony, if you're reading this, don't listen to these people! Come to the US, to Louisiana, to be exact. It's warm here most of the year, the winters are mild, the LSU badminton club in Baton Rouge has some pretty good players (one of whom is from Indonesia), we have a lot of people who speak Mandarin, some Malaysians, and some Indonesians. You'll be a lot closer to yr friend Etty here than in Singapore or HK. Also, my mother is a champion cook and we often bring badminton players to her house for Sunday dinner after we play. :)

Marshall,

... we don't have winters here at all ... :P

... we have authentic Indonesian cuisine ... :)

... Etty would be just as comfortable here ... :P :)

.... Hahaha .. just kidding there .

Tony, if you're reading this, come to Evanston and I'll cook for you.

ai, u knw i not the sentimental one wut.

Stuff it, me and Adel r frens, why wld we fight? not over such a stupid thing anyway, and even less likely after u added oil to it. crazy idiotic fool.

LOL! Good one, Adel :)

does he know chinese?