Threat to Indonesian Men's Doubles

As the era of “The Daddies” and “Minions” ends, while Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto are starting to struggle to compete among young players, Indonesia’s men’s doubles are waiting for a new force. Without a significant breakthrough from PP PBSI, the sector that has been Indonesia’s favorite in the last three decades could fall further behind other countries.

The men's doubles' backwardness is actually part of the decline of Indonesian badminton in general, especially since 2023. The "Red and White" squad, which usually only lags behind China and Japan in the number of BWF Tour tournament champions per year, has been overtaken by more countries.

In 2023, Indonesia with 13 titles is behind China (47 titles), South Korea (25), and Japan (20). In the following year, apart from the three countries, Denmark and Thailand are superior to Fajar and his friends.

The decline based on championship title statistics is also seen in the men's doubles sector in the BWF World Tour competition consisting of Super 300, 500, 750, 1000, and BWF Finals tournaments. From the Super 300 to 1000 events, which are open, Indonesian men's doubles are no longer at the top in the collection of championship titles.

In 2023, Indonesia's men's doubles strength is equal to Malaysia, South Korea, and Denmark which are below China. In 2024, Malaysia will start to be able to match Indonesia.

In fact, in the first two years when BWF used the BWF World Tour tournament system, 2018 and 2019, Indonesian men's doubles were so dominant with four times more championship titles than other strong countries. At the end of 2019, three pairs, namely Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon, Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan, and Fajar/Rian, even occupied the top, second, and fifth rankings in the world.

The decline in the strength of the men's doubles is quite disheartening considering that this sector has been the main strength of the "Red and White", at least in the last three decades. After Christian Hadinata/Ade Chandra, Tjun Tjun/Johan Wahjudi, and Rudy Heryanto/Hariamanto Kartono made the Indonesian men's doubles win the All England ten times in the period 1972-1984 (six times through the all Indonesian finals), the popularity of this number skyrocketed in the 1990s.

Christian, who was behind the success of Indonesia's men's doubles in the 1990s, once said that many young athletes wanted to become men's doubles players when they saw Ricky Soebagdja/Rexy Mainaky become All England champions, world champions, and win gold at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics. Their glory was continued by four players who could become champions, whoever their partners were among them. The four players were Candra Wijaya, Sigit Budiarto, Tony Gunawan, and Halim Haryanto.

Hendra/Ahsan, in fact, reached peak performance twice thanks to commitment, discipline, and hard work. After winning six championship titles, including the world championship in 2013 (just a year after being paired), then separating in 2017, their performance rose again in 2019. The pair nicknamed “The Daddies” reached the final 11 times at all levels of the BWF World Tour tournament. Three titles were won from major events, namely the All England, the World Championships, and the BWF Finals. They achieved this when Hendra was 35 years old and Ahsan was 32 years old.

Hendra, in fact, was once the world's best men's doubles player when he duetted with Markis Kido. They became world champions in 2007 and won gold medals at the 2008 Beijing Olympics.

In addition to having commitment and being responsible for their life choices as athletes, Hendra/Ahsan were able to survive in the elite men's doubles competition thanks to their ability to adapt to their conditions and opponents. When age made the fathers of three unable to compete with youngsters who relied on speed and strength, Hendra/Ahsan overcame it with a slower playing rhythm, but more accurate in directing their shots.

The character of the game led them to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, which was postponed a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic, accompanying Kevin/Marcus and overtaking Fajar/Rian. In fact, Fajar/Rian's performance during the point fight towards Tokyo 2020 was quite consistent, to the point that they were able to rank sixth at the end of the Olympic qualification. However, because BWF regulations limit a maximum of two representatives per number from each country, Kevin/Marcus and Hendra/Ahsan ended up representing Indonesia because they had a better ranking.

When they reached their second peak in 2019, Hendra/Ahsan only lost to Kevin/Marcus. They created all-Indonesian finals in five tournaments that Kevin/Marcus always won.

The pair, who have been duetting since 2015, have rocked the world competition with their very fast and attractive game. Kevin/Marcus' dominance was demonstrated through 29 BWF Super Series/Premier and BWF World Tour tournament titles in 2016-2021. The "Minions" were at the top of the world rankings for 272 weeks or around five years.

Kevin/Marcus' performance began to decline since 2022 due to Marcus' leg injury which required two operations. They only played seven tournaments in 2022 and six tournaments the following year. The Singapore Open in June 2023 ended up being their last tournament together before being completely absent from competition since 2024.

Hendra/Ahsan, initially tried to compete again to go to the 2024 Paris Olympics, but the chances became slimmer after the 2023 competition season. The men's doubles were also represented by Fajar/Rian who made their Olympic debut when Fajar was 29 years old and Rian was 28 years old. However, they could not take advantage of the opportunity and were eliminated in the quarter-finals in Paris 2024 after losing to young Chinese players, Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang.

Since badminton became part of the Olympic Games, in Barcelona 1992, Indonesia has been the best country in men's doubles with three golds, one silver and two bronzes, while the other four categories were dominated by China.

However, even though Indonesia consistently produces men's doubles who can win various major BWF events, medals from the Olympics have not been won since the gold from Beijing 2008. In fact, gold from a multi-branch event participated by countries around the world is the highest caste in assessing achievements. In 2008, Kido/Hendra continued the achievements of Candra/Tony who won gold in Sydney 2000 and Ricky/Rexy in Atlanta 1996.

Four Olympics have passed since Beijing 2008, Indonesia's men's doubles lagged behind other countries because they returned without a medal. Chinese players won gold in London 2012 and Rio de Janeiro 2016, followed by Lee Yang/Wang Chi Lin (Taiwan) who won gold in Tokyo 2020 and defended it in Paris 2024. Malaysia, too, has won medals in the last three Olympics even though its athletes have not stood on the top podium.

After Paris 2024, like after any other Olympics, it is a time for every country to prepare for the next four years. The early post-Olympics period is usually marked by the retirement of senior athletes or those who eventually achieved their dreams of becoming gold-winning Olympians.

Among those who said goodbye from the competition field were Hendra/Ahsan who played their last tournament at the Indonesia Masters in January 2025. A year earlier, Marcus said goodbye from the international tournament in March, followed by Kevin two months later.

Without “The Daddies” and “Minions”, Fajar/Rian became the most senior men’s doubles, both in tournaments and in daily training at the national training center, Cipayung, Jakarta. After Paris 2024, they said they still have a commitment to play together.

However, if you want to have a longer career, such as qualifying for the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics, it takes a higher commitment, discipline, and responsibility from Fajar/Rian. Moreover, Hendra/Ahsan who have remained at the top level for a long time and retired at the age of 40 and 37 will be the benchmark.

With ages that will reach 30 and 29 years in 2025, Fajar/Rian are one of the most senior besides the Danish pair, Kim Astrup (32)/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (35). Other competitors, especially in the world's top 20, are generally in the 24-28 year age range.

Reflecting on Fajar/Rian's age and fluctuating performance in the last two years, voices have emerged to separate the pair who have been duetting since 2014. The separation is not with the target of increasing each other's abilities again, but rather to help elevate the young players they are paired with.

This kind of method is common, as was done when Greysia Polii was paired with Apriyani Rahayu. They, in fact, were able to reach the peak of their achievements when they won the women's doubles gold at Tokyo 2020.

Not every senior-junior duet can be like Greysia/Apriyani or the Chinese mixed doubles, Feng Yan Zhe/Huang Dong Ping, who won 12 BWF tournaments in 2022-2024 and became the world's number one player. However, this method can be an option when the duet of two senior players is considered difficult to survive and at the same time, young players need to accelerate their achievements.

Moreover, the beginning of the 2024-2028 PP PBSI work period can be used by doubles coaches to dismantle and pair players to find the best composition. PBSI Achievement Development Division Head Eng Hian explained that coaches are free to try out various pairs in 2025. "Entering 2026, it is hoped that there will be permanent pairs so that they can pursue points and rankings for the 2028 Olympic qualification," said Eng Hian.

Apart from Fajar/Rian, the men's doubles team in the main national training camp has Leo Rolly Carnando/Bagas Maulana, Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Daniel Marthin, and Rahmat Hidayat/Yeremia Erich Yoche Yacob Rambitan.

Leo/Bagas and Fikri/Daniel are the result of a pair swap since August 2024 when the performance of the previous formation, Leo/Daniel and Fikri/Bagas, stagnated despite having won the BWF World Tour. They started again from zero to collect points to increase their ranking.

In the span of five months as a pair, Leo/Bagas' best results were when they reached the semifinals of the Japan Open Super 750 and became champions of the Korea Open Super 500 in 2024. Fikri/Daniel have not become champions, but they made it to the semifinals of the China Open Super 1000 in 2024 and became finalists in the Thailand Masters Super 300 this year.

Meanwhile, Rahmat/Yeremia, who have been a duet since early 2024, have only been able to win tournaments at the international challenge and Super 100 levels. Below them are eight players who are members of the national training center.

The competition is currently unpredictable. Anyone can be a champion. So, athletes must work harder, be disciplined, and have commitment.

With the current level competition map and the main target of winning a medal at the 2028 LA Olympics, PBSI must maximize the material in the national training center. If changing pairs is not an option, the effort that must be made is to maintain and improve the abilities of existing pairs, at least, for the next three years.

This is not an easy thing, especially if you look at the journey of Leo, Daniel, Fikri, and Bagas who could not qualify for Paris 2024. Moreover, the Indonesian men's doubles can be said to have lost the start even though almost every country is rearranging its strength for LA 2028.

China has Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang--Leo and Daniel's generation--who were able to win silver in Paris 2024. At 24 years old, Liang/Wang can still be retained for LA 2028.

China also has Chen Bo Yang/Liu Yi (24 and 21 years old) who were finalists at the Malaysia Open in early 2025. In the 2018-2024 BWF World Tour competition, China even has the most men's doubles champions, namely 11 pairs.

South Korea's men's doubles can also win with a different formation, especially with the presence of all-rounder Seo Seung-jae. Of the four tournaments that have taken place in 2025, South Korea won two titles from Seo who paired with different players, namely with Kim Won-ho at the Malaysia Open and with Jin Yong at the Thailand Masters.

In addition to South Korea, the men's doubles title from two other tournaments belonged to Malaysia, namely Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izuddin at the India Open and Man Wei Chong/Tee Kai Wun at the Indonesia Masters. Malaysia also has additional strength at the top level besides the bronze medalists at the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics, Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik. Currently, Malaysia has four men's doubles in the world's top 20.

That potential is what made Herry Iman Pierngadi accept the offer from the Badminton Association of Malaysia to coach the country's men's doubles team after PBSI did not choose him to be the coach in Cipayung. Herry actually received another offer, namely from Thailand, but he chose Malaysia because it was the first country to make an offer.

"The potential of the young players is also good. That's what attracted me to Malaysia," said Herry, who is coaching outside his own country for the first time.

Herry's presence in Malaysia adds to the threat for Indonesian men's doubles. His understanding of Indonesian badminton can be used to raise the achievements of Malaysian men's doubles to a higher level and this is reasonable to do as a form of professionalism of the coach, wherever he works. Herry's first target is to lead Malaysian players to win the All England, an achievement that the country has never achieved since Koo Kien Keat/Tan Boon Heong won in 2007.

Fajar, after losing in the Indonesia Masters final, assessed that the playing style that Herry could develop would be suitable for several Malaysian pairs. This should increase the vigilance of the Indonesian national training men's doubles squad led by Antonius Budi Ariantho, the winner of the men's doubles bronze at the 1996 Atlanta Olympics with Denny Kantono.

The Indonesian players' material and the current men's doubles competition made Hendra/Ahsan remind their successors. With open competition, which allows the tournament to be won by different athletes, each athlete must not be careless. "The current competition is difficult to predict. Anyone can win. So, athletes must work harder, be disciplined, and have commitment," said Ahsan.

Commitment, discipline, and hard work, as Ahsan mentioned, could be the key to the revival of Indonesian men's doubles so that what Fajar said does not become an unrealized hope, namely that Indonesian men's doubles must be better than other countries.