Doug Lesmerises, The Plain Dealer 07/25/2012 10:26 PM LONDON -- Imagine Michael Phelps coming out of retirement in 12 years and returning to the Olympics and swimming for -- Argentina. That's Tony Gunawan. In 2000 at the Sydney Olympics, Gunawan won badminton gold in men's doubles with partner Candra Wijaya and was rewarded with two months of parades around his native Indonesia as well as a small house in the countryside from the government. Indonesia has never won an Olympic gold in any sport other than badminton, so the gold medalists there are hailed as heroes. Besides Phelps, the other name current doubles partner Howard Bach dropped when asked for a Gunawan comparison was Michael Jordan. But after Gunawan, 37, finished his Olympic badminton workout with Bach on Wednesday afternoon on the green courts of Wembley Arena, he slipped on his United States Olympic Team T-shirt. Same guy, new Olympics, different country. Team USA is on the receiving end of this Olympic rebirth, and now the United States has a shot at its first badminton medal as a result. "He's still greeted as Michael Phelps," Bach said of Gunawan's status in Indonesia. "Because he represents a different country now some people might turn their back on him, but he's always been humble and respects the sport. So he never made enemies." Gunawan laughed Wednesday when talking about running into some old Indonesian friends since arriving in London. "We're on good terms," Gunawan said. "It's nothing personal." But Gunawan admitted that the Indonesian badminton community wasn't so happy when he left the country for the United States in late 2001, chasing a better life for his family as both he and his wife enrolled in American colleges, with Gunawan studying computer engineering. And when he and Bach were the surprise winners of the 2005 world championships, beating Indonesia and his former partner in the finals? "I was afraid to go back," Gunawan said with a smile. That 2005 world championship, when the pair was seeded in the teens, is one of the two reasons Gunawan is back at the Games now. Gunawan expected that to be the last competitive tournament of his life, but they were encouraged to compete so much more after their win that Gunawan dropped the computer engineering and now mainly coaches badminton. "It was 'The Miracle on Ice,' on the badminton court," Bach said. The other reason Gunawan is in London is because he conquered one of the most nerve-wracking experiences of his life last September. He passed his U.S. citizenship test after staying up most of the night, unable to sleep. "I was like, 'Come on, man, you won a gold medal, why are your afraid of a little test?'" Bach said. "But it meant that much to him. He cried afterward." Among the 16 badminton teams in men's doubles, which begins on Saturday, the Americans are seeded 13th, with their overall world rank No. 21. The pairs are divided into four groups of four teams each, with the top two teams in each group after the round-robin competition advancing to the quarterfinals. The blind draw put Gunawan and Bach in a group with the No. 2-seeded team from Korea, the No. 8 seed from Malaysia and the No. 11 seed from Japan. U.S coach Ben Lee called it the toughest draw of any group. "I'm really hoping to see them medal," Lee said after their practice Wednesday. "But it'll be a challenge." Bach is a three-time Olympian, playing with different partners in 2004 and 2008. He reached the quarterfinals in 2008, and after having a son and tiring of the travel, he's retiring after the Games as well. "I want to try to make my son proud," Bach said, "that his dad didn't just go to three Olympics, he went to the Olympics and came back with something and did something for the sport before he retired." The pair has beaten some of the top teams in other tournaments this year and taken others to the wire. But watching the practices Wednesday, with three courts placed among bright magenta borders in an arena in which the Beatles played three times, it wasn't hard to tell the difference. With woman's singles player Rena Wang, ranked No. 57 in the world, the only other U.S. badminton player at the Olympics, Gunawan and Bach spent much of their time on the court hitting the shuttlecock back and forth to each other. When teams from badminton-happy countries like China, Singapore and Malayasia hit the court later, they played full and fast doubles, one team even forcing its doubles pair to play three on two. And the warmups were serious. The game at the elite level is a match of angles and quick reactions, as players try to eventually force the opposing team into hitting a lob that leads to a chance at an overhead smash, the shuttlecock moving at more than 150 miles per hour at times. Bach said that Gunawan in the playmaker, with a great touch that then sets up finishing shots for Bach to execute. "It's not a sport for sissies," Bach said. "You can make it a sissy sport if you hit it like a sissy, but we don't drink beer and cook out while we're playing." As a coach, Gunawan said he has seen the talent level and interest among American junior badminton players grow in the last decade. Bach holds on to the hope of U.S. athletes in many Olympic sports: that something magical will happen to make their sport more popular. He knows a successful champion is the only hope. For now, the unretired Michael Jordan of Indonesian badminton will have to suffice. "I don't regret it," Gunawan said of the choice that brought him back to the Olympics under a different flag. "In anything you do, you gain something, you lose something. "It's kind of strange, but I've been here for 10 years now, so this is my home. This is my country."
Hearing his name reminds me of how insignificant his contribution was made by the arse Americans after he worked so hard to win the World Championship 2005 for his adopted country. 7 years later, nothing has changed and American badminton remains as crappy as ever.
probably not directly from the 2005 win. but at the grassroot level, there has been tremendous development since a decade or two ago. certainly it will be hard to break through at the professional level, but we have to take one step at a time. when one starts from zero, the only way to go is up.
I think many BCers would like to see more involvement from the US at the highest level possible. Therefore Tony's contribution, even at the most basic level, is commendable. I wish him all the best and others like him in the US who are also making similar contributions to uplift the state of badminton there.
