It’s a gigantic effort to end Uber Cup drought, but Gregoria’s up for it

Shuttler Gregoria Mariska is a woman with a mission at the Uber Cup Finals.

It has been 14 years since Indonesia last won a medal in the Uber Cup Finals and the world No. 9 Gregoria wants to end the miserable wait in Chengdu.

In 2010, the team inspired by doubles stalwarts Greysia Polli, Liliyana Natsir and singles player Maria Kristin Yulianti reached the semi-finals and returned home with a bronze in Kuala Lumpur.

Two years before that, the trio were part of the team that reached the final before losing 0-3 to China.

Those heady days have become much harder to come by over the years as Indonesia were overtaken by Japan and even Thailand but Gregoria is determined to rectify this.

“We are inspired to win a medal,” said Gregoria. “Our team have been getting better and we hope to spring a surprise,” she added.

Gregoria will be ably supported by Greysia’s former partner and Olympic gold medallist Apriyani Rahayu, who captured gold in the Tokyo Olympics and has since formed a strong combination with Siti Fadia Ramadhanti.

The emergence of Lanny Tria-ribka Sugiarto in the second doubles is also a positive sign for Indonesia.

Lanny-ribka stunned Apriyani-siti Fadia en route to capturing the Swiss Open title in Basel last month.

The world No. 27 pair also toppled Malaysia’s world No. 14 Pearly Tan-m. Thinaah in the Asia Team Championships in February.

Gregoria and her teammates swept aside Hong Kong 5-0 in their opening Group C match and will play Uganda next before a showdown against Japan.

“Japan are a strong team and we have to fight hard against them to try to cause an upset,” said Gregoria.

“We are inspired to win a medal.” Gregoria Mariska