Career

Pongoh played singles at a world class level in the 1980s. He was a bronze medalist at the 1980 IBF World Championships

1980 IBF World Championships

-Medalists:-Men's singles:-Women's singles:-Men's doubles:-Women's doubles:-Mixed doubles:-Medal table:-External links:*http://newspapers.nl.sg/Digitised/Page/straitstimes19800528.1.26.aspx...

 in Jakarta

Jakarta

Jakarta is the capital and largest city of Indonesia. Officially known as the Special Capital Territory of Jakarta, it is located on the northwest coast of Java, has an area of , and a population of 9,580,000. Jakarta is the country's economic, cultural and political centre...

, losing in the semifinals to fellow countryman Liem Swie King

Liem Swie King

Liem Swie King is a former Indonesian badminton player who excelled from the late 1970s through the mid 1980s. Along with Morten Frost , Han Jian and Luan Jin , and Prakash Padukone , he was one of the world's leading singles players of that era...

. On the international badminton circuit Pongoh's wins included the Swedish

Swedish Open (badminton)

The Swedish Open was an open badminton tournament that was annually held from 1956 to 1999 after which the organizer, Svenska Badmintonförbundet, could no longer find a suitable sponsor. To some extent it has been replaced by the Swedish International Stockholm tournament.-Winners:...

 (1981), Indonesia

Indonesia Open (badminton)

The Indonesia Open in an annual badminton tournament organized by Persatuan Bulutangkis Seluruh Indonesia and held in Indonesia since 1982. It became part of the BWF Super Series tournament in 2007 and got the Premier Super Series status in 2011....

 (1984), and Chinese Taipei

Chinese Taipei Open (badminton)

The Chinese Taipei Open in badminton is an open international championships held in Taiwan since the 1970s,but they took place only in irregular periods. Since 1997 they are regularly held, unless in the 2001 edition, due to the economic crisis in Asia....

 (1985) Opens, the 1981 Copenhagen Cup (forerunner of the Copenhagen Masters

Copenhagen Masters

The Copenhagen Masters is a high-ranking tournament in badminton. It is an invitation tournament held annually since 1993 in the week between Christmas and New Year in Copenhagen. The Danish top players meet thereby the remaining world point leaders. The venue was in the first eleven years the...

), and the 1982 Indian Masters. He won men's doubles at the 1981 Japan Open

Japan Open (badminton)

The Japan Open is an annual badminton tournament held in Japan. It became part of the BWF Super Series tournaments in 2007.-Past winners:...

 with doubles maestro Christian Hadinata

Christian Hadinata

Christian Hadinata is a former Chinese Indonesian badminton player.Though early in his career he was a fine singles player who reached the final of the prestigious All-England Championship in 1973, Christian's success in doubles earned him recognition as one of great doubles players in badminton...

 where he was also runner-up in singles to the great Rudy Hartono

Rudy Hartono

Rudy Hartono Kurniawan , born August 18, 1949) is a former Chinese Indonesian badminton player who won the men's singles title at the World Championship in 1980, and the prestigious All-England Championship trophy eight times, seven times consecutively , in the 1960s and 1970s. He is one of the...

.

Pongoh played second singles for the Indonesian

Indonesia national badminton team

The Indonesia national badminton team represents Indonesia in international badminton team competitions and is controlled by the Persatuan Bulutangkis Seluruh Indonesia, PBSI , the governing body for badminton in Indonesia...

 Thomas Cup

Thomas Cup

The Thomas Cup, sometimes called the World Men's Team Championships, is an international badminton competition among teams representing member nations of the Badminton World Federation , the sport's global governing body...

 (men's international) teams of 1982

1982 Thomas Cup

The 1982 Thomas Cup was the 12th tournament of Thomas Cup, the most important men's badminton team competition in the world. The final round was held in London, England.China won its first title after beating Indonesia in the final round.-Teams:...

 and 1986, both of which suffered the narrowest of final round losses to arch-rival China

China national badminton team

The China national badminton team represents the People's Republic of China in international badminton team competitions and is controlled by the Badminton Association of the People's Republic of China, the governing body for badminton in China....

. He dropped both of his matches in the '82 series final, but won his only match (under a revised best of five match format) in the '86 series.