Verawaty Wiharjo

Verawaty Wiharjo
Personal information
Country	Indonesia
Born	October 1, 1957 Jakarta
Height	1.78 m (5 ft 10 in)
Handedness	Right
Women's singles & doubles, Mixed doubles

Verawaty Wiharjo Fadjrin (born 1 October 1957, Jakarta, Indonesia), is a former badminton player who won international titles spanning from the late 1970s to the end of the 1980s. Tall and powerful, at one time or another she played each of the three variations of the sport (singles, doubles, and mixed doubles) at the highest world level.

Career

During a relatively brief period as a regular singles competitor, Verawaty won the 1980 IBF World Championships in Jakarta over fellow countrywoman Ivana Lie.^[1] Verawaty had been runner-up to Denmark's Lene Koppen at the prestigious All-England Championships that year.^[2] She won the Southeast Asian Games title in 1981 and the Indonesia Open in 1982. Most of her early titles in women's doubles were in partnership with Imelda Wiguno (Wigoeno). Together, they won the Asian Games (1978), the Danish Open (1979), the Canadian Open (1979), the All England (1979), and the Southeast Asian Games (1981). They were runners-up at the World Championships in 1980,^[3] and Verawaty was runner-up at the 1982 All England with another fellow countrywoman Ruth Damayanti.^[4]

Following a hiatus in her international badminton career from 1983 to 1985, Verawaty enjoyed impressive success in her late twenties and early thirties. She shared the women's doubles title at the Indonesia Open in 1986 and 1988, and finished second with Ivana Lie at the World Badminton Grand Prix in 1986. Her greatest success late in her career, however, came in mixed doubles, which she had rarely played earlier. She won the 1986 and 1988 Malaysia Opens with Bobby Ertanto and Eddy Hartono respectively. In 1989 Verawaty and Hartono won the World Badminton Grand Prix, and the Dutch and Indonesia Opens together. They also reached the final round of the 1989 IBF World Championships in Jakarta, but could not overcome South Korea's Chung Myung-hee and the formidable Park Joo-bong.

Verawaty led Indonesian Uber Cup (women's international) teams that finished second to Japan in 1978 and 1981, and to China in 1986. Of the seven matches won and the fourteen matches lost by Indonesia, collectively, in the final rounds of these three competitions, Verawaty was involved in six of the wins and only three of the losses. She also helped Indonesia win the Sudirman Cup (combined men's and women's team championship) over South Korea in 1989, her final year of international play.

References

1. Ron Willis, "The Eclipse of Lene," Badminton, August 1980, 22, 23.
2. Peter Jessup, "Again, it's Lene," Badminton, May 1980, 24, 33.
3. Pat Davis, The Guinness Book of Badminton (Enfield, Middlesex, England: Guinness Superlatives Ltd., 1983) 110.
4. Pat Davis, "All Change at Wembley," World Badminton. June 1982, 12, 13.

Sources

• Smash - Verawaty Fadjrin