Lucia Francisca Susy Susanti Haditono

Lucia Francisca Susy Susanti Haditono, or Susy Susanti as she is popularly known
worldwide, is undoubtedly the greatest Indonesian female badminton player in history. For
almost a decade, this player from Tasikmalaya dominated women's singles starting from the
late 1980s and throughout most of the 1990s. She has claim to almost all of the prestigious
titles in the game. Her most notable titles include the 1993 World Championships and the
first ever Olympic medal in badminton. Susanti also boasts four All England titles, six
consecutive World Grand Prix titles, five World Cups and countless Grand Prix crowns. She
also helped Indonesia conquer the first Sudirman Cup in 1989 as well as the Uber Cup in
1994 and 1996. Susanti is the only female singles player to hold the Olympic, World
Championship, All England, World Grand Prix Finals and World Cup titles
simultaneously. Her play was characterized by long rallies consisting of clears with pinpoint
accuracy and an impenetrable defense. A typical rally by Susy Susanti would begin with a
long and deep serve to the back line followed by precise punch clears to pin her opponents to
the back of the court. She would patiently wear them down and wait for them to make
mistakes. Her athleticism and flexibility enabled her to retrieve the steepest of drop shots by
executing a full split from a lunge and quickly recover for the next shot.

Susy Susanti was introduced to badminton by her father, Risad Haditono, when she
was 8 years old. She trained at her uncle's club, PB Tunas Tasikmalaya, for 7 years. She
quickly displayed a promising future in the sport and in 1985, she was invited to join the
national team at Pelatnas Pratama in East Jakarta. She was only 14 years old at that time.
From then on, she dedicated her life to badminton and trained for eight hours a day, six days
a week.

However, 1989 would be the most glorious year of her career. In 1989, she reached
her first All England final against Li Lingwei of China. Just two months later, Susanti's
incredible stamina and level-headiness under pressure was showcased when she saved the
honors of the Indonesian team at the first ever Sudirman Cup tournament in Jakarta. 

A few months after her amazing comeback at the Sudirman Cup, Susanti clinched her
first Grand Prix title at the 1989 Indonesia Open held in Pontianak where she crushed Huang
Hua 11-7, 11-0. Another week later, the Indonesian legend won her first World Cup title.

In 1990, Susanti won the first of her 4 All England titles and her first World Grand
Prix crown. Susanti’s winning streak continued until the 1992 Olympic Games when
badminton was included as an official Olympic sport for the first time in history. The
Chinese-Indonesian player lived up to her country’s expectations and captured the first ever
gold medal for Indonesia by beating her long-time rival, Bang Soo-hyun of Korea, with a
score of 5-11, 11-5, 11-3. In a repeat of the Olympic final, Susanti met Bang in the 1993
World Championships’ ultimate match. With a similar score line (7-11, 11-9, 11-3), Susanti
once again prevailed to win her first and only world championship title.

With 2 of the most prestigious titles under her belt, Susanti was expected to win the
1994 Asian Games individual event but fell short at the semi-final stage against Hisako Mizui
of Japan. Susanti had to settle for a bronze medal and the Asian Games became the only
major title in her career to have eluded her. In the 1996 Olympic Games, the player from
Tasikmalaya went home with another bronze medal after losing to Bang in the semi-final.
After defeating Susanti, Bang went on to win her own first Olympic gold medal.

On the Grand Prix circuit, Susanti has won over 40 titles: the All England 4 times, the
Indonesia Open 6 times, the Japan Open 4 times, the Thailand Open 5 times, the Chinese
Taipei Open 3 times, the Malaysia Open 5 times, the World Grand Prix Finals 6 times, the
German Open 3 times and the Dutch Open and the Swedish Open each twice. These
outstanding results guaranteed her position as No.1 in the world for more than 4 years.

She also contributed to the Indonesian team’s victory over China in both the 1994 and
1996 Uber Cup campaigns. Susanti’s last major title was the 1997 World Cup held in
Yogyakarta. That same year, she married Alan Budikusumo in a wedding ceremony that
attracted Jakarta’s most affluent citizens as well as Indonesia’s top politicians. Despite having
plans to play in the Asian Games, she had to permanently retire from the game in 1998 due to
pregnancy. She later gave birth to three children: Laurencia Averina in 1999, Albertus
Edward in 2000 and finally Sebastianus Frederick in 2003.

In 2004, Susanti and husband, Alan Budi Kusuma, founded a company called ASTEC
specializing in badminton equipment. She also founded Fontana, a shop offering reflexology
and sport massage services.

In 2008, Susanti briefly came back to badminton competition but this time as a team
manager for Indonesia. Susanti successfully lead her team to the final stage of the Uber Cup
against China. In 2012, the PBSI, Indonesia’s national body for badminton, once again called
upon Susanti. She was appointed as an expert staff member in charge of development for the
period leading up to the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.

The International Badminton Federation (now the BWF) inducted Susanti into the
Hall of Fame in May 2004. She was also awarded the Herbert Scheele Trophy in 2002 for
outstanding services in badminton. When asked about how she managed to lead such a
brilliant career, Susanti preaches about very strict discipline to reach the highest goals in our
sport. One only needs to look at her achievements to see that she is a true proponent of talent,
self-discipline and motivation, the 3 ingredients essential to become a world class badminton
player.