Indonesian women’s singles badminton player Gregoria Mariska Tunjung admitted she was confused about how to express her feelings after being confirmed to win the bronze medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics early after her opponent in the third place match, Carolina Marin, decided to withdraw due to injury.
Previously, Gregoria would only play in the bronze medal match on Monday (5/8), after she was defeated by world number one women’s singles player An
Se-young 21-13, 11-21, and 16-21 in the semifinals at Port de la Chapelle Arena, Paris, France, Sunday (4/8).
She will face losing semifinalist Carolina Marin of Spain or He Bingjiao of China.
However, Marin’s decision to retire after suffering an injury while leading 21-14 and 10-8 against He meant she could not continue her match in the semi-finals and Gregoria was assured of an early bronze medal without playing.
“Earlier I was stretching, then Marin fell, coincidentally I also had a test today, so I didn’t have time to see what the decision was, but…
“He said he decided to retire,” said Gregoria in an official statement, Sunday (4/8).
“I’m confused, it would be wrong if I was happy with other people’s suffering. This is a disaster for Marin, but I’m confused about how to react, like I don’t want this to happen. Honestly, I’m really grateful for the medal, but I’m not happy about it,” he continued.
This is Indonesia’s first medal at the 2024 Paris Olympics, which is also the country’s first women’s singles medal after Maria Kristin last won a bronze medal at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.
In addition, this is also a sweet note for the women’s singles who never fail to bring home a medal after qualifying for the semifinals. (Ant/Z-1)
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