Jafar/Felisha Overtake in the “Final Corner”

NINGBO, WEDNESDAY—The potential of Jafar Hidayatullah/Felisha Albertha Nathaniel Pasaribu to become Indonesia's future mixed doubles pair has been evident within eight months of their partnership. As the youngest mixed doubles pair in the main national training center, they have managed to challenge and even defeat more experienced athletes.

One of those moments occurred at the 2025 Asian Badminton Championship held at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, Ningbo, China, from April 8 to 13. In their debut at a tournament equivalent to the BWF World Tour Super 1000 level, Jafar/Felisha defeated the seventh-seeded home players, Cheng Xing/Zhang Chi, with a score of 14-21, 21-15, 21-19, in the first round on Tuesday (8/4/2025).

The victory was achieved thanks to Jafar/Felisha's ability to overcome the opponent's pressure in the third game. They were trailing 1-6 and then 7-11. After the interval of this decisive game, Jafar/Felisha made the competition intense by equalizing the score to 11-11.

Like the intense competition among MotoGP racers that remains "heated" until the final lap, Jafar/Felisha and Cheng/Zhang overtook each other until the finish. The Indonesian pair, ranked 28th in the world, overtook their opponents from a 12-14 position to 16-14. After that, Cheng/Zhang led 18-17 after trailing 16-17.

The two pairs were tied at a 19-19 position, until Jafar/Felisha secured two consecutive points and won after competing for one hour and 15 minutes.

To add to the tension and pressure, this critical moment was marked by drama when the referee gave a red card to Cheng/Zhang when the score was 18-18. The referee's decision, which gave Jafar/Felisha one point, came after Cheng/Zhang were given a yellow card first for being considered to have slowed down the match after the medical break. The match was stopped because the home pair protested after being given the red card.

To avoid losing focus due to the incident, Jafar/Felisha communicated and reminded each other to stay focused. They also discussed strategies as the match resumed.

"Thank God, we were able to play well and pass the first round with a victory in our debut in this championship. Moreover, the opponents were not easy to defeat because they are not new players. This has indeed been our desire, to face players with higher rankings and be able to win," said Felisha, who will face Cheng Kuan Chen/Hsu Yin Hui (Taiwan) in the second round.

Like Cheng/Zhang, who are ranked 12th in the world, Cheng/Hsu are ranked higher than Jafar/Felisha in the world rankings, at 19th. The opponents who have been defeated and who Jafar/Felisha will face have more experience in pairing up and appearing in BWF World Tour tournaments. Cheng/Hsu have been a duet since June 2023 and Cheng/Zhang since early 2024. Meanwhile, Jafar/Felisha have been partners since August 2024.

However, the Indonesian pair aged 22 and 19 showed their potential from the start of working together. They won two consecutive tournaments at the international challenge and Super 100 levels.

Jafar/Felisha's journey in the higher level tournament, namely the BWF World Tour throughout 2025, has been up and down, but they have gained a lot of experience when facing senior players. They reached the semifinals of the Thailand Masters and the quarterfinals of the German Open Super 300.

The moment experienced by Jafar/Felisha at the Asian Championships was also felt by other mixed doubles representatives, Amri Syahnawi/Nita Violina Marwah, when they played against the Japanese pair, Hiroki Nishi/Akara Sato. Amri/Nita won 19-21, 23-21, 21-19 in a match with ever-changing momentum.

Amri/Nita lost the first game after leading 11-6, then won the second game after falling behind 12-15. In the deciding game, Nishi/Sato took the lead 8-4, then the momentum turned when Amri/Nita led 11-10.

In addition to Jafar/Felisha and Amri/Nita, the first round victory was achieved by Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari. Meanwhile, Dejan Ferdinansyah/Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti were eliminated by the second seed from China, Feng Yan Zhe/Huang Dong Ping, 11-21, 16-21.

Losing in the mixed doubles, Fadia still has a chance to go further in the women's doubles. Together with Lanny Tria Mayasari, Fadia will face the Hong Kong pair, Yeung Nga Ting/Yeung Pui Lam, in the first round, Wednesday. They did not set high expectations on their first opportunity to appear in this Asian Championship.

"We will focus step by step because the opponent is not easy since the first round," said Fadia.

Lanny/Fadia played in four tournaments in October-November 2024, then three tournaments in January to early February 2025. They showed quite good performance by reaching the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Open Super 1000 and winning the Thailand Masters Super 300.

After that, along with Apriyani Rahayu's return to the tournament since the 2024 Paris Olympics, Fadia played again with her senior at the Orleans Masters and All England, March. However, after the tour in Europe, the coach changed the women's doubles formation by pairing Apriyani with Febi Setianingrum and Fadia back with Lanny. Moreover, Lanny/Fadia became one of four Indonesian women's doubles who received an invitation from Badminton Asia to appear in the Asian Championship.

"I'm happy to have the opportunity to play again with Teteh Fadia. Our preparation is quite good, it's just a matter of how on the field we can be more compact. It's not too difficult for us to click because we've only been apart for a few tournaments," Lanny commented.

In addition to Lanny/Fadia, the Indonesian women's doubles are represented by Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/Amallia Cahaya Pratiwi, Rachel Allesya Rose/Meilysa Trias Puspitasari, and Siti Sarah Azzahra/Agnia Sri Rahayu. However, Febriana/Amalia must meet Meilysa/Rachel in the first round. Meanwhile, Sarah/Agnia will face Hsu Yin Hui/Lin Jhin Yun (Taiwan).

In the men's singles, defending champion Jonatan Christie will start his journey against Koki Watanabe. Jonatan became the 2024 Asian champion, also held in Ningbo, after defeating Li Shi Feng in the final.

The men's singles also gave Indonesia the title in the 2023 Asian Championships through Anthony Sinisuka Ginting. However, Anthony was unable to compete in the 2025 championship, despite qualifying based on ranking, because he had not recovered from a right arm injury.

Jonatan is accompanied by Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo and Alwi Farhan. Both will face tough challenges in the early matches when Chico faces Loh Kean Yew and Alwi faces Weng Hong Yang.

"I am certainly enthusiastic about my first opportunity to appear in the Asian Championship. I will focus on my own playing style and do not want to think too far ahead," said Alwi.

Meanwhile, through its four representatives, the men's doubles will seek the title after Pramudya Kusumawardana/Yeremia Erich Yoche Yacob Rambitan became champions in 2022. Despite having many pairs, the Indonesian men's doubles have always failed to bring home the title from the next two events. This number, in fact, has never qualified a player to the semifinals at the 2023 and 2024 Asian Championships.

In Ningbo this year, the “Red and White” men’s doubles are relying on four pairs, including All England finalists and semifinalists, Leo Rolly Carnando/Bagas Maulana and Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Muhammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani. Leo/Bagas, who will face Takumi Nomura/Yuichi Shimogami in the first round, are determined to perform consistently after reaching the All England final.

Four representatives will play in the women's singles, so Indonesia has 19 representatives in five numbers. The four women's singles players are Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo, Putri Kusuma Wardani, and Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi.

In Jakarta, PP PBSI 2024-2028 rotated coaches in the main and pratama national training singles categories. Mulyo Handoyo, who was originally appointed as the head coach of the national training center as well as the head coach of the main national training center men's singles, will only serve as the head coach of the entire sector. This was decided due to Mulyo's health condition which did not allow him to carry out a busy task.

"Mr. Mulyo is not recommended by doctors to travel to tournaments in the near future. We also want Mr. Mulyo to focus more as a head coach," said Head of Achievement Development of PP PBSI Eng Hian.

With Mulyo's release of his men's singles coach status, his role was replaced by Indra Widjaja who was previously the head coach of the pratama men's singles. In the main national training, Indra is assisted by Marlev Mainaky.

In the men's singles sector, the coach position is filled by Wimpie Mahardi. To assist Wimpie, PBSI called former men's singles athlete, Ihsan Maulana Mustofa, as an assistant. Wimpie's vacant position, which was originally the women's singles coach, was transferred to Herli Djaenuddin.

"Based on the quality of the coaches, we hope that Indonesian badminton will be better. They must be more optimal in preparing training programs according to the needs of athletes," said Eng Hian.