Indonesia Hunts for Group Champion Position in Sudirman Cup

XIAMEN, WEDNESDAY – After securing a place in the quarter-finals, the next effort will be made by the Indonesian badminton team at the mixed team championship of the Sudirman Cup. Indonesia will be vying for the top position in the group to maintain momentum and boost confidence.

The target can be achieved through the match between Indonesia and Denmark, which will take place at the Fenghuang Gymnasium, Xiamen, China, on Thursday (1/5/2025), starting at 08:30 WIB. Whoever wins this match will obtain the status of Group D champion, although Indonesia is currently in second place, below Denmark. The third and fourth positions are occupied by India and England, who have already been confirmed to be eliminated.

Denmark and Indonesia, which secured tickets to the quarter-finals as the two best teams in Group D, both have two points from two victories. The distinguishing factor between the two teams is the difference in the number of games won and lost.

Of the ten parties when defeating England (5-0) and India (4-1), Indonesia won 19 games and lost four games, while Denmark had a game difference of 18-2. Indonesia could overtake Denmark if they win.

The Chairman of the Development and Achievement Division of PP PBSI, Eng Hian, hopes that all players can draw lessons from the two previous matches to prepare for facing Denmark. Moreover, securing the top position in the group has become PBSI's initial target.

Although the status of being a quarter-finalist will not change regardless of the outcome of the match later, a victory over Denmark will hold significant meaning for the athletes. Their confidence will be maintained as they can sustain the winning momentum over three matches. Moreover, in the next phase, the competition will occur only among the two best teams from each group in a knockout system.

In addition to Indonesia and Denmark, the other quarter-finalists are China and Thailand from Group A, Taiwan and Korea (Group B), as well as Japan and Malaysia (Group C). The teams that qualified from Groups A and B will compete for the group champion position on Wednesday afternoon until evening. Meanwhile, Japan and Malaysia will meet at the same time as the match between Denmark and Indonesia.

Indonesia will face Denmark, competing without Viktor Axelsen. The gold medalist of the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics is absent from his team as he is still in recovery following back surgery in March.

However, this does not diminish Denmark's strength. This strongest team from Europe still has Anders Antonsen, who can pose a significant challenge to Indonesia's top men's singles player, Jonatan Christie.

The record of both players' performances this year suggests that the match could be closely contested. Jonatan has won ten out of 15 matches, while Antonsen has achieved the same number of victories from 14 matches.

Based on meeting statistics, Jonatan leads with a narrow margin of 6-5, but he lost in the last two encounters that took place in 2024. This has become one of Jonatan's concerns during training, namely that he must be prepared to face tough competition in the qualifying phase when competing against India and Denmark. Indeed, Jonatan played three games over one hour and 13 minutes to defeat Prannoy H.S. in the match against India.

Jonatan stated that the unfortunate moment from the 2017 Sudirman Cup in Gold Coast serves as his motivation to contribute to a victory against Prannoy. At that time, with only three teams in one group, Indonesia was also competing against India and Denmark. However, the "Red and White" team was eliminated in the preliminary phase despite recording one win and one loss, similar to India and Denmark. Indonesia ranked last in the group due to a deficit in the number of matches won.

The match in Gold Coast was one of 15 encounters between Indonesia and Denmark since the Sudirman Cup was first held in Jakarta in 1989. Indonesia has won ten times, including the most recent meeting that took place in the group stage in Vantaa, Finland, in 2021.

In addition to the men's singles, the competition between Indonesia and Denmark is likely to be tight in four other events when looking at the record of their athletes' meetings. Putri Kusuma Wardani and Line Hoejmark Kjaersfeldt have shared two victories from four encounters.

Putri can leverage the momentum of her victory in the last meeting, in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Hong Kong Open, and from her performance against the Indian player, Pusarla V Sindhu. Putri defeated the Olympic medalist from Rio de Janeiro 2016 and Tokyo 2020 with a score of 21-12, 21-13.

Doubles players must elevate their performance level to face Denmark, including the women's doubles athletes. Although Denmark does not bring their top-ranked permanent pair, they can pose challenges due to frequently changing their women's doubles formations.

In the match against India, Denmark fielded Natasja P Anthonisen/Alexandra Boeje. Meanwhile, when facing England, Anthonisen was paired with singles player Line Christophersen, who last played doubles during the 2018 Junior World Championships.

"Against Denmark, the women's doubles team that will compete is unpredictable. We must anticipate their unusual playing patterns. In addition, their defense is known to be quite tight," said Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti after playing against India alongside Lanny Tria Mayasari.

Fadia/Lanny has become one of the doubles options for the women's team to compete against Denmark, alongside Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi. Although they are ranked lower in the world rankings compared to their counterparts, Fadia/Lanny has an advantage as they are the only representatives from Indonesia to have won a title from the BWF World Tour in 2025. They claimed victory at the Thailand Masters Super 300 tournament in early February.

In addition, Fadia has experience representing Indonesia in the Sudirman Cup in 2021 and 2023, while Lanny has participated since 2023. For Febriana/Amalia, the tournament in Xiamen marks their first Sudirman Cup.

To secure points in the men's doubles, Indonesia can rely on Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto or Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Daniel Marthin to compete against Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen. Fajar/Rian have more experience in the Sudirman Cup, but they are trailing 3-5 against Astrup/Rasmussen. Meanwhile, Fikri/Daniel won in their previous encounter, which took place in the first round of the All England in March.

Meanwhile, the options to face the rising Danish mixed doubles pair, Jesper Toft/Amelie Magelund, are quite varied. Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja have each won against Toft/Magelund in two encounters this year; however, they must quickly forget their defeat against India despite having led 19-16 in the third game.

Another formation, namely Dejan Ferdinansyah/Gloria, has also previously won against the seventh-ranked Danish pair at the China Masters 2024. In addition, Indonesia can also field the formation of Rinov Rivaldy/Gloria, who competed in the quarter-finals of the Sudirman Cup 2023.

After the group stage concluded on Thursday, the competition continued with the quarter-finals the following day. The matchups for this round will be drawn to pair the winners with the runners-up from different groups.

Men's Singles

Jonathan Christie – Anders Antonsen 6-5

Women's singles

Princess Kusuma Wardani – Line Hoejmark Kjaersfeldt 2-2

Men's Doubles

Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto – Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 3-5

Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Daniel Marthin – Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 1-0

Mixed doubles

Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari – Jesper Toft/Amelie Magelund 0-0

Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja – Jesper Toft/Amelie Magelund 1-1

Dejan Ferdinansyah/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja – Jesper Toft/Amelie Magelund 1-0