We will witness history and records being broken at the upcoming 2021 European Championships. We take a look at the player who recorded two Olympic medals for two countries and also a double European gold in singles and doubles.
Mia Audina Tjiptawan was born in Jakarta, Indonesia, in 1979, and it is no surprise that she grew up playing badminton with Indonesia being a dominant force during those years. Between the ages of 10-14, she witnessed Indonesian stars break up the almost decade long Chinese dominance in women’s singles.
At this pivotal moment, the young Mia Audina was inspired and spurred on by this success. At just 14 she showed enough ability to be selected for the Uber Cup team in 1994. The final was tied at 2-2. Up steps Mia Audina against a 19-year-old Zhang Ning. After a fierce battle, Audina became Indonesia’s hero by winning 11-7, 10-12, 11-4.
The year 1996 was a special one for Audina, as not only did she win her first World Grand Prix, defeating Denmark’s Camilla Martin in the final of the US Open, the 16-year-old went onto win silver for Indonesia at the Atlanta 1996 Olympic Games.
Audina's switch to the Netherlands
The story behind her move to the Netherlands was one of love. She moved to the other side of the planet for her Dutch husband. Training in the Netherlands and continuing to represent Indonesia was deemed not viable, so Audina initiated proceedings to become Dutch.
Once ready to play for her adopted nation, Audina wasted little time to get going. In the 2002 European Championships, she reached the final where she met fellow Dutch player, Yao Jie, who herself was a naturalised player from China. Audina came away with a silver after a three-game battle, preventing Camilla Martin from securing her fourth title in a row.
Interestingly, Brenda Beenhakker secured a bronze that year, ensuring that the Netherlands stood on each level of the women’s singles podium. This showed the emerging strength of the Dutch ladies, who in the same year won their first-ever medal at the Uber Cup with a bronze in Guangzhou.
At the 2003 World Championships, she broke up the four-strong Chinese women and secured a bronze medal, again, a first for the Netherlands since Ridder/ Van Beusekom in the 1977 women’s doubles. This milestone gave positive momentum going into an Olympic year – 2004 Athens. Audina entered the 2004 European Championship as one of the favourites.
In the quarterfinal, Audina fought off a late push from England’s Tracey Hallam to win 11-4, 13-11, setting up her eleventh meeting against Camilla Martin, the three-time champion who was seeking to amend her semifinal loss in 2002. The head-to-head was poised at 5-5, but Martin won the last two.
In one of the matches of the tournament, Audina stormed away in the opening game, 11-4. Martin needed settings to force a decider, where then Audina was able to just edge out her opponent 11-8.
In the other semifinal, Pi Hongyan knocked out the reigning champion Yao, however, had nothing more left in the tank. Audina took gold, defeating France’s Pi by the one-sided scoreline of 11-1, 11-0.
Losing only one point in the final is quite a rare thing in badminton, however, incredibly this was repeated in Audina’s women’s doubles final playing with Lotte Bruil against reigning champion Ann-Lou Jørgensen with Rikke Olsen – 15-0, 15-1. Audina completing a unique feat that is hard to envisage ever being repeated.
The Olympic gold
Then came the defining moment of her career. In the summer of 2004, Audina embarked on a feat achieved by no other player, medalling at the Olympics for two different countries. The draw dictated that she would likely face her career rival, Denmark’s Camilla Martin, in the quarterfinal. It would have been a repeat of the mightily close European Championship semifinal earlier in the year. However, GB’s Tracey Hallam, with a colossal performance, defeated Martin to enter the quarterfinal. Audina was too strong for Hallam, and also for Gong in the semifinal. She faced none other than China’s Zhang Ning in the Olympic final.
Thinking back 10 years ago to the 1994 Uber Cup final, where the young Audina faced against Zhang, becoming an instant Indonesian hero, it felt so right that these two would meet again in an Olympic final. Two very different journeys, but the same goal. After a well-fought and entertaining three-game final, it was Zhang who came out on top, 8-11, 11-6, 11-7. But for the Netherlands, it meant a first Olympic medal, and Audina was able to deliver this for them. Standing tearful and proud in the Goudi Olympic Hall, Audina captured the hearts of the Dutch people.
Audina went on to add a European Championships silver in 2006 and also played a key role in the Netherlands’ historic 2006 Uber Cup silver in Tokyo. Once again Audina had a key battle with Zhang Ning in the final.
Audina retired with 15 career titles, three coming in women’s doubles. The golden girl in Indonesia followed her heart and through what she showed on court in Dutch colours, she won ours.
The 2021 European Championships will take place in Kyiv, Ukraine from 27 April to 2 May.