Ferry Sonneville

Ferry Sonneville was an Indonesian badminton player who was known for his touch, consistency, tactical astuteness, and coolness under pressure. He started playing badminton in the 1940s, taught by his mother who was a badminton champion herself. He inherited his sports talents from his parents, as his father was a local tennis champion in the 1930s. His father was also a brigade major of the Royal Netherlands East Indies Army in the war and was executed by the Japanese. Sonneville married Yvonne Theresia de Wit in September 1954 and had three children. He was a Catholic by religion. He sacrificed his studies in the Erasmus University in the Netherlands to play for Indonesia in the Thomas Cup, the men's world team badminton championship. He was the playing captain or coach when Indonesia won or successfully defended the Thomas Cup three times in a row in 1958, 1961, and 1964. He also won many international singles titles, such as the Malaysia Open, the Dutch Open, the French Open, the German Open, the Canadian Open, and the U.S. Open. He was the runner-up at the All England Championships in 1959. He was considered one of the best badminton players of his era and a national hero in Indonesia. Sonneville's playing career ended on a bitter note in the 1967 Thomas Cup final in Jakarta when he was past his prime and lost two singles matches in Indonesia's controversial defeat to Malaysia. He was booed by his countrymen and felt humiliated. He later became the president of the International Badminton Federation (now World Badminton Federation) and the president of the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI). He was also involved in other sports organizations, such as the Komite Olahraga Nasional Indonesia (KONI) and the Asian Games Federation Council. He was the chef de mission of the Indonesian contingent to the Olympic Games in 1971. He died of a heart attack in Jakarta on 20 November 2003 at the age of 72.