Lilyana Natsir

Liliyana Natsir
Personal information
Birth name Liliyana Natsir
Born September 9, 1985 (1985-09-09) (age 26)
Manado, Indonesia
Height 1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Weight 58 kg (130 lb)
Country  Indonesia
Handedness Right
Coach Richard Mainaky
Mixed doubles
Highest Ranking 1 (June 15, 2006[1])
Current Ranking 3 (September 7, 2011[2])
BWF Profile
Olympic medal record
Competitor for  Indonesia
Badminton
Silver 2008 Beijing Mixed doubles
World Championships
Gold 2005 Anaheim Mixed Doubles
Gold 2007 Kuala Lumpur Mixed Doubles
Silver 2009 Hyderabad Mixed Doubles
Bronze 2011 London Mixed doubles
Southeast Asian Games
Gold 2007 Thailand Women Doubles
Gold 2007 Thailand Team Match
Gold 2009 Laos Mixed Doubles
Gold 2011 Indonesia Mixed Doubles

Lilyana Natsir (born in Manado; 9 September 1985) is a female badminton player from Indonesia who specializes in doubles. She is listed as one of the best mixed doubles player in the world. In Indonesia, she is often considered as the queen of mixed doubles sector thanks to her achievements with her two different pairs. Her current partner now is Tontowi Ahmad (as of 2011).

Contents

Early life

Being a badminton athlete is one big thing that Natsir had already dreamed of since her childhood. She's already familiar with racquet and shuttlecock since she was 9 years old. Natsir started playing badminton at her local badminton club in Manado at the age of 9. But three years later, she decided to move to Jakarta and entered her youth club, Tangkas Alfamart. She joined the national badminton team of Indonesia in 2002, together with Natalia Poluakan, her long-time friend since in Manado. When she and Poluakan won women's doubles title in Pekan Olahraga Nasional (National Games), Richard Mainaky noticed her game and offered Natsir to play in mixed doubles with Nova Widianto.[3]

Career

Previously focusing only on mixed doubles with partner Nova Widianto, since 2007 she has also played women's doubles with Vita Marissa. In 2006 she and Widianto won the Asian Championships in mixed doubles and four World Grand Prix titles. They won the BWF World Championships in both 2005 and 2007. In the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, Natsir won the gold medal in women's doubles with Marissa, defeating their Indonesian teammates Jo Novita and Greysia Polii in straight sets. They also helped the Indonesian women's team win the team gold medal at the games. In the beginning of 2009 Marissa resigned from PBSI. With this decision came out, Marissa and Natsir had to split up and focus on each of their career. One year later, in September 2010, badminton world was surprised by the sudden split of world number #1 Widianto-Natsir. Nova and Liliyana have clinched 2 World Championship gold medals and 14 titles all together, and were still at world number one when the decision was announced. Since then Lilyana paired with the younger player, Tontowi Ahmad. [4]

2008 Summer Olympics

She competed in badminton at the 2008 Summer Olympics in mixed's doubles with partner Nova Widianto and earned a silver medal. They were defeated in the final by the gold medalists Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung of South Korea in straight sets 21–11 and 21–17.

Participation at Indonesian Team

Achievements

Mixed Doubles with Tontowi Ahmad

Year Tournament Venue Round
2011
2011 Kumpoo Macau Open Grand Prix Gold Macau Winner
2011 Yonex Badminton French Open France Semi-Finalist
2011 Djarum Indonesia Open Super Series Premier Indonesia Runner-up
2011 Li Ning Singapore Open Singapore Winner
2011 Yonex-Sunrise Malaysia Open Grand Prix Gold Malaysia Winner
2011 Yonex-Sunrise India Open Super Series India Winner
2011 Wilson Swiss Open Grand Prix Gold Switzerland Semi-Finalist
2011 Victor Korea Open Super Series Premier Korea Quarter-Finalist
2010
2010 Indonesia Grand Prix Gold Indonesia Winner
2010 Chinese Taipei Grand Prix Gold Taiwan Runner-up
2010 Macau Open Badminton Championships Macau Winner

Mixed Doubles with Nova Widianto

Year Tournament Venue Round
2010
2010 Djarum Indonesia Open Super Series Indonesia Semi-Finalist
2010 Li-Ning Singapore Open Singapore Runner-up
2010 All-England Super Series England Runner-up
2009
2009 Yonex-Sunrise Hongkong Open Super Series Hong Kong Runner-up
2009 Yonex French Super Series France Winner
2009 Yonex Open Japan Super Series Japan Semi-Finalist
2009 Yonex-Sunrise BWF World Championships India Runner-up
2009 Aviva Singapore Open Super Series Singapore Semi-Finalist
2009 Yonex All England Open Super Series England Quarter-Finalist
2008
2008 French Super Series France Semi-Finalist
2008 China Masters Super Series China Runner-up
2008 Yonex Japan Super Series Japan Runner-up
2008 Beijing Olympic Games China Silver Medalist
2008 Singapore Open Super Series Singapore Winner
2008 Asian Badminton Championships Malaysia Runner-up
2008 Wilson Swiss Open Super Series Switzerland Semi-Finalist
2008 All England Open Super Series England Runner-up
2007
2007 Sudirman Cup (Team) Scotland Runner-up
2007 Hongkong Open Super Series Hong Kong Winner
2007 China Open Super Series China Winner
2007 Yonex Japan Open Super Series Japan Runner-up
2007 BWF World Championships Malaysia Winner
2007 Philippines GP Gold Philippines Winner
2007 Hongkong Open Super Series Hong Kong Winner
2007 China Masters Open Super Series China Semi-Finalist
2007 Indonesia Open Super Series Indonesia Runner-up
2007 Malaysia Open Super Series Malaysia Semi-Finalist
2006
2006 Japan Open Super Series Japan Runner-up
2006 Hongkong Open Super Series Hong Kong Runner-up
2006 Korea Open Super Series Korea Winner
2006 Taipei Open GP Gold Taiwan Winner
2006 Singapore Open Super Series Singapore Winner
2006 Indonesia Open Super Series Indonesia Runner-up
2006 Asian Badminton Championships Malaysia Winner
2005
2005 Sudirman Cup China Runner-up
2005 Indonesia Open Super Series Indonesia Winner
2005 BWF World Championships United States Winner
2005 Swiss Open Super Series Switzerland Runner-up
2004
2004 Singapore Open Super Series Indonesia Winner

Women's Doubles with Vita Marissa

Year Tournament Venue Round
2008
2008 Japan Open Super Series Japan Semi-Finalist
2008 Indonesia Open Super Series Indonesia Winner
2008 Singapore Open Super Series Singapore Semi-Finalist
2008 Uber Cup (Team) Indonesia Runner-up
2008 Badminton Asia Championships Malaysia Semi-Finalist
2007
2007 China Masters Super Series China Winner

Personal life

She is a daughter of Beno Natsir (father) and Olly Maramis (mother) with a hobby of listening to music and hanging out. People often call her by her nickname Butet or Yana. She had only finished elementary school in Manado before she had the courage to fly to Jakarta and focus herself seriously on badminton. After she has finished all competitions, she always make a symbol of the Spirit of Jesus Christ.

Miscellaneous

References

External links