Historic badminton gold brings joy to weary Indonesia

Apriyani (left) and Greysia pose on the court with their women's doubles badminton gold medals during the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games on Aug 2, 2021. - AFP

JAKARTA (The Jakarta Post/ANN): It was a rare moment of joy, especially at a time when Indonesia is struggling against a Covid-19 pandemic that has claimed hundreds of lives on a daily basis.

President Joko 'Jokowi' Widodo, who has had a severe countenance for the past few months, was all smiles when he called up Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu on a video conference from his office on Monday (Aug 2), just hours after the two won a historic Olympic women’s doubles gold medal in Tokyo.