Indra Gunawan (September 23, 1947, in Surakarta – June 7, 2009, in Jakarta) was an Indonesian

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players p ...

player and coach.

Profile

He was a former player from

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and was specialized in men's doubles. As a coach he was the National coach from both Indonesia and Malaysia. Gunawan finished third in the 1970 Asian Games in doubles with

Rudy Hartono Rudy Hartono Kurniawan (born Nio Hap Liang (); 18 August 1949) is an Indonesian former badminton player holding the record of winning the men's singles title at the All-England Championship eight times, seven times consecutively from 1968 to 1974 ...

and won the Men's team gold for Indonesia at the 1970 Asian Games event in

Bangkok Bangkok, officially known in Thai as Krung Thep Maha Nakhon and colloquially as Krung Thep, is the capital and most populous city of Thailand. The city occupies in the Chao Phraya River delta in central Thailand and has an estimated populati ...

Thailand Thailand ( ), historically known as Siam () and officially the Kingdom of Thailand, is a country in Southeast Asia, located at the centre of the Indochinese Peninsula, spanning , with a population of almost 70 million. The country is b ...

. In the 1970

Thomas Cup The Thomas Cup, sometimes called the World Men's Team Championships, is an international badminton competition among teams representing member nations of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's global governing body. The championships ha ...

Kuala Lumpur , anthem = ''Maju dan Sejahtera'' , image_map = , map_caption = , pushpin_map = Malaysia#Southeast Asia#Asia , pushpin_map_caption = , coordinates = , sub ...

, he became men's team world champion with the Indonesian squad, as well as 1973 in Jakarta, where he however was not selected in the final. In 1971 he won the Asian Cup in Men's doubles with Nara Sudjana in Jakarta. In the All England, he reached the final in 1971, and 1973 the semifinals.

Career Coach

Indra was a former National coach for both Indonesia and Malaysia. He was head coach of the Indonesian team at the Pelatnas of PBSI in the nineties. The Indonesian came to Malaysia as the singles chief coach in 2001 and together with doubles chief coach

Park Joo-bong Park Joo-bong (Hangul: 박주봉; Hanja: 朴柱奉; born 5 December 1964) is a former badminton player from South Korea who excelled from the early 1980s through the mid-1990s. Career Park is one of the most successful players ever in the Wor ...

, the duo nearly helped Malaysia to win the Thomas Cup Finals in 2002 in Guangzhou. Malaysia went down 2–3 to Indonesia in the final but Indra will be remembered for his faith and gamble on exposing younger players, especially

Lee Tsuen Seng Lee Tsuen Seng (born 26 April 1979) is a former badminton player from Malaysia. He was part of the Malaysian team that won silver in the 2002 Thomas & Uber Cup. He also won a silver medal in men's singles at the 2002 Commonwealth Games. Achie ...

. Indra was also known for his compassion for senior players. He gave former Malaysian internationals

Ong Ewe Hock Ong Ewe Hock (; born 14 March 1972) is a former badminton player from Malaysia. He is the younger brother of Ong Ewe Chye. Achievements World Cup ''Men's singles'' Asian Championships ''Men's singles'' Asian Cup ''Men's singles'' ...

and

Yong Hock Kin Yong Hock Kin (born 14 June 1976) is a former badminton player from Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federal constitutional monarchy consists of thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by t ...

a second chance to salvage their positions in the National team of Malaysia. Indra was well known for his key part in Malaysian world famous player

Lee Chong Wei Datuk Lee Chong Wei (; born 21 October 1982) is a Malaysian former badminton player. As a singles player, Lee was ranked first worldwide for 349 weeks, including a 199-week streak from 21 August 2008 to 14 June 2012. He is the fifth Mala ...

’s amazing international debut, back when he was head coach for the National team of Malaysia. Chong Wei was only 17-years-old when he joined the National team under Indra. Thanks to a good foundation laid by Indra, Chong Wei began his journey as the king of the local badminton circuit. Indra was also the manager of the six-court Wira Hall in Jakarta. As one of the most respected figures of the badminton world tour, Indra Gunawan died at the Pantai Indah Kapuk Hospital, in his home of Jakarta on June 7th, 2009, at the age of 61, after a long disease – Indra was diagnosed with colon cancer.

Personal life

Indra was married and left behind his wife Dewi Mirida and three children.

Achievements

Asian Games

''Men's doubles''

Asian Championships

''Men's doubles '' ''Mixed doubles ''

International Open Tournaments (1 title, 4 runners-up)

''Men's doubles''

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Gunawan, Indra 1947 births 2009 deaths Indonesian male badminton players Badminton coaches Badminton in Indonesia Asian Games medalists in badminton Badminton players at the 1970 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for Indonesia Asian Games bronze medalists for Indonesia Medalists at the 1970 Asian Games Sportspeople from Surakarta Badminton players from Central Java 20th-century Indonesian people 21st-century Indonesian people