Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Susi Susanti   

Susi Susanti. Photo By Media Indonesia – Wikimedia Commons

Top 10 Fascinating Facts about Susi Susanti 

Lucia Francisca “Susi” Susanti Haditono, commonly known as Susi Susanti is an Indonesian retired badminton player. She is regarded by many as one of the greatest women’s singles players of all time. 

Indonesia had been competing in the Olympic Games since 1952 but had never won a gold medal until badminton was added to the Olympic program in 1992. 

Susi has 18 Gold, 9 Silver, and 9 Bronze Medals to her name, gained by representing Indonesia in different tournaments between 1987 and 1997. 

Here are the top 10 fascinating facts about Susi Susanti. 

1. She Was in Ballet and Gymnastics Class Which Helped With Flexibility 

Susi was born on 11th February 1971 in Tasikmalaya, West Java, Indonesia. She grew up in a loving home with her parents Risad Haditono and Purwo Benowati who were badminton enthusiasts and often invited her to the field. Her father was her first badminton teacher. 

She loved the game of badminton since elementary school. As a child though, she was encouraged to join the ballet and gymnastics classes. Her parents trained her every day to avoid injuries and keep her flexible.  

Some of the tips Susi got from her parents was to wear socks and sweatpants from a young age to keep her muscles warm. 

Before her matches as a junior, her father would stay up all night to change her sleeping positions as she slept to avoid injuries. This was because she often slept on her arms which was not good for the game. 

2. Susi’s Dream Was to be an Engineer 

Susi Susanti. Photo By Ismar Patrizki – Wikimedia

Susi began playing badminton at a club that belonged to her uncle. She practiced at the Tasikmalaya-based club for several years. While there, she participated in the junior-level badminton championships and won. 

After this, she moved to Jakarta where she lived in a dormitory and attend a special school for athletes. It was a strict badminton environment with many rules but the training schedule was very solid. She was not allowed to wear high heels to avoid sprains.   

As a child, Susi’s dream was to become an engineer, instead, she became a professional badminton player and ended up being the greatest women’s singles player of all time. 

3. Her Strategy on the Field Was Unique 

Susi combined quick and graceful movement with elegant shot-making techniques. She was an extremely durable and defensive player who liked low-paced and long matches. She used this strategy to wear down her opponent’s stamina and invite errors. 

Because of her height, Susi often stretched her legs very wide to take low shots at the corners or away from her position.  

She developed this from training. The leg-stretching, almost balletic maneuver became a signature pose which sometimes ended with a full leg split.  

Later, Susi incorporated more smashing into her range of styles and this helped to throw off opponents expecting only a game of attrition. 

4. Susi Won 18 Gold Medals and Many Titles     

Susi was the most dominant women’s singles player in the first half of the 1990s. She won the All England Open in 1990, 1991, 1993, and 1994.  

This legend also bagged the World Badminton Grand Prix Finals five times consecutively from 1990 to 1994 as well as in 1996, and the IBF World Championships in 1993.  

She is the only female player to hold the Olympic, World Championship, and All-England singles titles simultaneously. Susi achieved 18 Gold, 9 Silver, and 9 Bronze Medals in her career.   

Susi won the Japan Open three times and the Indonesian Open six times. She also won numerous Badminton Grand Prix events and five World Cups.  

5. She is a Hall of Fame Inductee  

Susi Susanti. Photo By Media Indonesia – Wikimedia Commons

Susi was inducted into the International Badminton Federation (IBF) currently known as the Badminton World Federation (BWF), Hall of Fame in May 2004. 

She was also honored with the Herbert Scheele Trophy in 2002. 

6. She Had To Deal With Racism At Times  

At the beginning of her career in 1989, Susi managed to become a champion in the Indonesian Open. It was not easy especially because she struggled with racism and citizenship issues because she was of Chinese descent. 

Her decision to remain in Indonesia and represent the country when many of her similarly successful peers had decided to move abroad was not sitting well with everyone.  

She overcame after facing a variety of racially charged challenges whose peak was with the May 1998 anti-Chinese riots. 

7. Susi’s Husband is a Badminton Player Too 

Alan Budikusuma and Susi Susanti with Minister of Youth and Sport of Indonesia, Zainudin Amali. – Wikimedia Commons

Susi is married to Alan Budikusuma, who is a former Indonesian badminton player who excelled at the world level from the late 1980s to the mid-1990s.  

The couple, that got married in 1997, has three children. The firstborn, who was born in 1999 when Indonesia was rocked by a series of civil outbreaks and violence, was named Laurencia Averina Wiratama, which means “peace”, hoping that he would bring about peace in the nation. 

Their second born is Albertus Edward who was born in 2000 while their last born is Sebastianus Fredrick, born in 2003.  

8. Susi and Allan Won Gold in the 1992 Olympics 

Susi will always be remembered as the first Indonesian Olympic gold medalist, a prestigious honor she won at the Barcelona Summer Olympics in 1992.  

Clips of Susy standing proud on the podium with tears of joy rolling down her cheeks as the Indonesian national anthem played on, remain one of the country’s most iconic images.  

Alan Budikusuma, Susi’s then-boyfriend, and now husband won the gold medal in the men’s singles two hours after her victory.  

They were welcomed back to Indonesia as national heroes with celebrations in their honor.  two-hour parade through the streets of Jakarta that was led by a car carrying a gigantic shuttlecock.  

9. There is a Movie of Her Life 

Susi’s life is so well-known that it was adapted into a biopic. A biopic or biographical film is a movie that dramatizes the life of a non-fictional or historically-based person or people.  

The biopic, ‘Susi Susanti: Love All’ was released in 2019 and the language used is Indonesian. It was directed by Sim F and the role of Susi is played by Laura Basuki while Dion Wiyoko plays Alan Budikusuma.  

10. Susi Retired to Focus on Her Family 

Susi Susanti. Photo By Ismar Patrizki – Wikimedia

Susi retired from the world of badminton shortly after her marriage to Alan. She wanted to focus on raising a family and being present for her boys. 

Almost three decades after Susy’s Olympic glory, Indonesia hasn’t found another top-ranked badminton player in the women’s singles category.