Jakarta, 12 June 2022 -- Retiring from the world of professional athletes has always been an extraordinary transition process that is often not easy for a sports star to go through. Thousands of days have passed throughout the ages to train and score achievements, suddenly everything has to stop.
Likewise, the path that will now be traversed by Indonesian Badminton Star Greysia Polii, who has entered her retirement period as an athlete.
As an award for their services in making the name of the Nation proud in many world-class competition events, PT Bank Negara Indonesia (Persero), Tbk or BNI (stock code: BBNI) and PBSI collaborated to organize a Gresia Polii Testimonial Day.
On the same occasion, BNI gave its appreciation by inviting young badminton athletes to attend the Greysia Polii Testimonial Day event in Jakarta, Sunday (12/6/2022).
This young athlete comes from two big clubs that have raised Greysia Polii, namely PB Jaya Raya and Eng Hian Badminton Academy. BNI Corporate Communication Vice President, Selly Adritika was present and handed over funds for the coaching of young badminton athletes which were symbolically handed over to the two clubs.
Selly said that PB Jaya Raya and Eng Hian Badminton Academy were clubs that were very instrumental in ordering the skills as well as the mentality of the champion.
With this assistance, it is hoped that more The Next Greysia Polli will become the pride of the nation in scoring Go Global achievements.
"Before Greysia Polli became big as it is today, and was able to score international achievements in various competitions, there was a long series of struggles that the two clubs had gone through. This is also an invitation to all parties not to forget the services of athletes who have made Indonesia proud in the eyes of the world," she said.
Meanwhile, this Minahasa bloody athlete recorded gold ink when she won the Gold Medal at the 2021 Tokyo Olympics. The Greys and Apriyani Rahayu gold added a medal record for Indonesia in the history of the badminton Olympics.
In the future, Selly continued, BNI is committed to continuing to support the development and coaching of the sport of badminton to continue to carve out historic achievements worldwide.
"We are also very grateful because BNI has always been given the opportunity to be able to contribute to the development of badminton in Indonesia, which has always recorded worldwide achievements," she said.
Heartwarming Moment
On this occasion, General Chairperson of PBSI (Indonesian Badminton Association) Agung Firman Sampurna appreciated the support from all parties who have supported all athletes to achieve their highest achievements until their retirement.
"Thank you to all the spectators who are willing to attend. Thank you to our athletes and officials. We also thank all parties including BNI who supported us together with athletes to make global achievements," he said.
In his opinion, BNI's move to support the development of the two badminton clubs that raised Greysia Polii is the right step.
"We also hope that more of the Next Greysia Polii will appear so that we can add more international achievements," he said.
He said all Indonesian people must feel the same way as all PBSI management. Together with Greysia Polii, the Indonesian badminton team has gone through various difficult times and scored various achievements worldwide.
"Greysia's retirement from being a badminton athlete is an extraordinary and touching moment. Together, we deliver our pride and love for athletes," he said.
Meanwhile, Minister of Youth and Sports Zainudin Amali said that Greysia Polii would not completely leave the badminton world. After all, Greysia Polii's blood contains rackets, shuttlecocks and various badminton equipment.
Instead, he said Greysia Polii would continue to support the development of the national badminton sport by becoming a state civil servant at the Ministry of Youth and Sports.
"As directed by President Joko Widodo, all outstanding athletes will become Civil Servants at the Ministry of Youth and Sports," he said.