An Se-young of South Korea (left) hugs Gregoria Mariska Tunjung of Indonesia after winning their match in women’s singles badminton semifinal during the Paris 2024 Olympic Games at Porte de la Chapelle Arena in Paris on Aug. 4, 2024. (Reuters/Ann Wang)
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ndonesian shuttler Gregoria Mariska Tunjung was awarded a bronze medal in the 2024 Paris Olympics women’s singles badminton event, following the withdrawal of Carolina Marin of Spain as a result of an injury in the semifinals.
The bronze was Indonesia’s first medal at this year’s Olympics. It was also the country’s first in women’s singles badminton since the 2008 Beijing Olympics, where Maria Kristin Yulianti took the bronze.
On Sunday, world number seven Gregoria lost 11-21, 21-13, 21-16 to world number one An Se-young of South Korea in the first semifinal match. Gregoria was then set to play in a playoff match for bronze.
But in the second semifinal match on Sunday, 2016 Olympic gold medalist Marin, who was playing against China’s He Bingjao, was forced to withdraw from the Paris Games after suffering a right knee injury.
With Marin’s withdrawal, He automatically earned a spot in the final match against An for the gold. Meanwhile, Gregoria, who had been scheduled to play the loser of the Marin-He match, was awarded the bronze.
“This is definitely not the way how I wanted to win a medal,” Gregoria said in a statement.
“I am grateful [that I have been awarded] with the medal, but I’m not happy [with how it was done],” she said, adding that her feelings were mixed, as she felt sorry about the incident that happened to Marin.