Liliyana Natsir

Liliyana Natsir (born 9 September 1985) is an Indonesian former badminton player who specialized in doubles. With one gold and silver from the Olympic Games, and four gold medals at the BWF World Championships, she is regarded as one of the greatest mixed doubles players of all time. Natsir was the second Indonesian woman Olympic gold medalist, after Susi Susanti won gold in 1992. She gained huge success by partnering with two different players. Her last partner was Tontowi Ahmad after being separated from her previous partner, Nova Widianto. She also won three titles in a row from 2012–2014 at All England Badminton Championships, one of the most prestigious and oldest tournaments in the sport. Her tactical awareness, game vision, and dominance at the front court are considered among the best in the tour. In 2016, she and Tontowi Ahmad became the first Indonesian mixed doubles pair to win a gold medal at the Olympic Games after beating Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying of Malaysia. As of 2019, she holds the highest number of BWF World Championship titles for mixed doubles.
Early life.
Natsir had dreamed of being a badminton athlete since childhood. She started playing badminton at the age of nine at her local badminton club in Manado. 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 longtime friend from Manado. When she and Poluakan won the women's doubles title in Pekan Olahraga Nasional (National Games), Richard Mainaky noticed her game and invited her to play in mixed doubles with Nova Widianto.
Career.
In 2006, Natsir 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, and came runner up in 2009. While Natsir had previously focused on mixed doubles with partner Nova Widianto, in 2007 she began playing women's doubles with Vita Marissa. In the 2007 Southeast Asian Games in Thailand, Natsir and Marissa won the gold medal in women's doubles, 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.
2008: Beijing Olympics silver medalist.
Natsir competed in badminton at the 2008 Summer Olympics in mixed 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. She also competed in the women's doubles event with Vita Marissa but lost to Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen of China in the first round.
They have also been runner up at the All England Championships twice. In early 2009, Marissa resigned from the national team. When this decision came out, Marissa and Natsir had to split up and each focus on their own careers. A year later, in September 2010, the badminton world was surprised by the sudden split of world number #1 mixed-doubles pair Widianto and Natsir. In total, Widianto and Natsir had clinched two World Championship gold medals and 14 titles all together, and were still at world #1 when the decision was announced.
Since then Natsir has paired with the younger player Tontowi Ahmad in mixed doubles.
2012: London Olympics.
Natsir competed in the mixed doubles at the 2012 Summer Olympics with partner Tontowi Ahmad and finished fourth at the end.
2013: Third World Championships title.
Natsir won the 2013 BWF World Championships in Guangzhou together with her partner Tontowi Ahmad, after beating the current no.1- world ranked Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei in the semifinal and the top seed Xu Chen and Ma Jin in the final.
2014: Third All England Open title.
Natsir won the All England Open for three consecutive times from 2012 to 2014. Natsir participated at the 2014 Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, and won a silver medal in mixed doubles with Ahmad.
2015: Second Asian Championships title.
In 2015, she won a gold medal in the 2015 Asian Championships. In the final, she and Ahmad ousted Lee Chun Hei and Chau Hoi Wah of Hong Kong with a score of 21–16, 21–15, and lead the head-to-head against those pair to 3–0.
2016: Rio Olympics gold medal.
Natsir has made three Olympics appearances. Natsir competed in mixed doubles in 2016 with partner Tontowi Ahmad and won the gold medal in the end.
2017: Fourth World Championships title.
In 2017 BWF World Championships in Glasgow, Natsir and Ahmad again defeated the current world no.1 from China Zheng Siwei and Chen Qingchen to win her fourth World Championships title.
2018: World ranking number 1 with Ahmad.
Natsir and Ahmad achieved the World No. 1 in May 2018.
Achievements.
Olympic Games.
"Mixed doubles"
BWF World Championships.
"Mixed doubles"
World Cup.
"Mixed doubles"
Asian Games.
"Mixed doubles"
Asian Championships.
"Women's doubles"
"Mixed doubles"
Southeast Asian Games.
"Women's doubles"
"Mixed doubles"
World Junior Championships.
"Girls' doubles"
"Mixed doubles"
Asian Junior Championships.
"Mixed doubles"
BWF World Tour (1 title, 3 runners-up).
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tours are divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.
"Mixed doubles"
BWF Superseries (23 titles, 19 runners-up).
The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels are Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consists of twelve tournaments around the world that have been introduced since 2011. Successful players are invited to the Superseries Finals, which are held at the end of each year.
Natsir has won many superseries titles with some partners such as Nova Widianto, Vita Marissa, and Tontowi Ahmad.
"Women's doubles"
"Mixed doubles"
BWF Grand Prix (15 titles, 8 runners-up).
The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) which was held from 2007 to 2017. The World Badminton Grand Prix has been sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) from 1983 to 2006.
"Women's doubles"
"Mixed doubles"
Personal life.
Natsir is a daughter of Beno Natsir (father) and Olly Maramis (mother).