Sarwendah Kusumawardhani Sukiran (born 22 August 1967) is a retired badminton player from Indonesia.[4] She was the women's singles champions at the 1990 World Cup and 1993 SEA Games. Kusumawardhani was part of Indonesia winning team at the inaugural Sudirman Cup, also the women's team event of SEA Games in 1987, 1989, 1991 and 1993.
Career
Kusumawardhani was rated among the world's leading singles players in the late 1980s and early 1990s, though she was somewhat overshadowed by her younger Indonesian teammate, Susi Susanti. Her titles included the Dutch Open (1987, 1991, 1992), the Swiss Open (1990, 1991), the Malaysia Open (1991), the World Cup (1990), and the SEA Games (1993). Kusumawardhani came close in badminton's three most prestigious tournaments for individual players. She was a bronze medalist at the 1989 IBF World Championships and a silver medalist to China's Tang Jiuhong at the tournament's next edition in 1991. She was also runner-up at the venerable All-England Championships in 1991, this time to Susanti. At the 1992 Barcelona Olympics won by Susanti, Kusumawardhani narrowly missed reaching the medal rounds after an extremely tight quarterfinal loss to the eventual silver medalist Bang Soo-hyun.[4]
Personal life
Kusumawardhani is married to Hermawan Susanto who was one of Indonesia's and the world's leading men's singles players in the 1990s. Her elder sister, Ratih Kumaladewi is also a former national badminton player.[2]
After retiring from her playing career, Kusumawardhani began a new path as a coach. She started out at PB Tangkas and eventually opened her own academy, Sarwendah Badminton Club, in 2010.[5] She also coached the women's singles squad under the Badminton Association of Indonesia, but resigned in 2011, citing incompatibility with head coach Li Mao.[6] She was rehired in 2013 as the assistant coach for women's singles.[7]
