Iie Sumirat, Scouting Young Badminton Talent Until the End of Her Life

Badminton legend nicknamed the giant killer, Iie Sumirat (74), passed away due to illness in Bandung, West Java, on Tuesday (22/7/2025), at 7:30 p.m. WIB. Until the end of his life, he was enthusiastic about providing opportunities for athletes from underprivileged families to showcase their talents.

Abdul Sidik (29) is one of those who was once mentored by Iie Sumirat. On Wednesday (23/7/2025), Abdul attended the funeral of the legend. That morning, Abdul, along with several others, carried the coffin of the late Iie Sumirat, which had just been prayed for at the Nurul Huda Mosque in Bandung.

The location of the mosque is only about 200 meters from Iie's residence in the Sukabakti area, Kiaracondong District, Bandung City. From there, the body will be buried at the Mekarwangi Public Cemetery in Bandung on Wednesday afternoon.

"He was very instrumental for me. I learned various badminton knowledge from the deceased for 10 years," said Abdul.

Abdul's memories go back to the year 2005. At that time, his coach at a local badminton club in Ciwidey, Bandung Regency, asked Abdul to come to Sangkuriang Graha Sarana (SGS) Elektrik in Bandung. Ciwidey is located approximately 35 kilometers from Bandung.

His coach said Iie was waiting for Abdul. Iie wanted to see Abdul's abilities. "It seems the coach has already promoted me. Since I don't have a private vehicle, the next day I took public transportation to Bandung. I was nervous," Abdul said.

It is understandable if Abdul feels nervous. SGS is a legend in Indonesia. Since its establishment by Lutfi Hamid, Memen Ismanto, and Iie Sumirat, SGS has become a crucible for badminton in Indonesia. Many prominent names have emerged from there.

Starting from the generation of George Rimarchdi, Halim Haryanto, Flandy Limpele, to Taufik Hidayat. There is also the generation of Hendra Aprida Gunawan to Anthony Ginting. One of the significant achievements was when Taufik Hidayat won the gold medal at the Athens 2004 Olympics.

Upon arriving at SGS, Abdul immediately showcased his abilities. As Abdul had hoped, Iie was interested in his talent. He was willing to train Abdul. However, contrary to Abdul's expectations, Iie was willing to train him without any payment.

"I have been worried about the costs. My parents do not have money. Oh, it turns out I do not have to pay. I can also stay at the GOR SGS while training," he said. Abdul remembers that at that time Iie was training 10 other children who were just as financially challenged as he was.

In Iie's hands, Abdul's abilities have improved significantly. From being a local tournament champion, he has been able to compete in city and provincial level championships. Abdul acknowledges that he does not always win, but at least he reaches the podium or makes it to the semifinals.

According to Abdul, it's all thanks to Iie's direct training. He enjoys physically training his students.

However, at the same time, Iie also wanted his students to be proficient in ball placement. This was in keeping with Iie's style, known as the "flick" or "kedut" style, a trick used to position the ball to outwit opponents. "In the past, it seemed like if you hadn't vomited, you hadn't stopped training," Abdul said.

Over time, Abdul observed an increasing number of underprivileged children coming to SGS. Like him, they are also not charged any fees for training.

Not everyone becomes an athlete. However, at least good badminton skills provide a valuable lifelong asset.

"Now I am coaching in Soreang, Bandung Regency. There is also a colleague of mine, who is also from a less fortunate background, now coaching at a club in China," said Abdul.

Iie Sumirat is a native of Bandung. She was born on November 15, 1950. Her love for badminton grew alongside her enthusiasm for playing with her friends using wooden rackets.

Furthermore, he admitted he was fortunate. His father, Atik Suganda, and his older sister, Manara Suganda, also participated in the sport of badminton.

Manara had previously entered the national training center for the doubles category. Meanwhile, Atik, who owns a car workshop, once had a badminton club named Rama Putra.

Without an ideal training and competition system, Iie only participated in an official match at the age of 12. For the first time, he experienced victory. Since then, Iie began to train seriously.

Over time, Iie's abilities caught the attention of the country. One of the memorable moments was when he became the champion of the Asian badminton invitation held by the World Badminton Championship in Bangkok in 1976.

At that time, he defeated two Chinese champions, Hou Jia Chang and Tang Xianhu. The media at the time dubbed Iie the giant killer.

At the 1976 Thomas Cup in Thailand, Iie showcased his talent once again. He was part of the Indonesian Thomas Cup team that emerged as champions. In the final, the team defeated Malaysia with a score of 9-0.

Its brilliance still shone during the Thomas Cup in 1979 in Jakarta. Iie made a significant contribution after defeating Danish legend Svend Pri in the final round. Indonesia once again won 9-0.

For these two remarkable achievements, the seven Indonesian men's players of the 1970s were dubbed The Magnificent Seven. Besides Iie, they included Christian Hadinata, Tjun Tjun, Johan Wahyudi, Ade Chandra, Rudy Hartono, and Liem Swie King.

Iie's journey as a player ended in 1982 at the age of 32. He then focused on coaching. After spending five years coaching the Sarana Muda club since 1982, he nurtured SGS. Almost every day, Iie would come to SGS.

Yayang Sumitra (29), the sixth of eight children of Iie, stated that his father has recently reduced the frequency of his visits to SGS in 2024. From usually seven days a week, it has now become only 2-3 days a week. At that time, Iie needed to rest a lot due to the pain from his right ankle tendon starting to torment him.

"However, he still enjoys traveling to the regions. A few months before August, he was still bringing one student from an underprivileged family from Garut. He practiced in Bandung but returned to Garut after he could no longer train," he said.

In addition to diligently seeking new talents, Iie is also actively offering to train children from orphanages. Recently, at least 30 children from the Dhuafa Luqman Nur Hakim Orphanage in Gedebage, Bandung, expressed their willingness to participate in the training.

"Every week they take turns practicing with their father," said Yayang.

Ultimately, the tendon injury suffered by Iie worsened significantly. In August 2024, he began to frequently be hospitalized. It was later discovered that the injury had triggered an infection in the lungs. This is also suspected to be the main cause of Iie's passing.

On Tuesday night, just a few hours after his passing, Iie's home was visited by many colleagues and students. Taufik Hidayat, who is now the Deputy Minister of Youth and Sports, came from Jakarta.

Taufik acknowledged that Iie was the first person to discover his talent in Pangalengan, Bandung Regency. Pangalengan is located approximately 40 km from Bandung. Discovered at the age of 9, Taufik was trained in the fundamentals of badminton until he was 14 years old. It is no surprise that Taufik's playing style is similar to Iie's, possessing a strong physique and skillful ball placement.

"I consider him like a parent. Without him, I wouldn't have brought honor to Indonesia," he said.

On Wednesday morning, a fragrant scent could still be detected in the alley in front of Iie's house. Condolence flowers were placed in front of it. Visitors included officials from Indonesian badminton as well as his colleagues in the sport of badminton.

According to his children, Iie always expressed a desire to see more badminton talents emerge and have the opportunity to showcase their best abilities in order to bring Indonesia's name to the global stage.