Indonesia's Men's Doubles Failure Was Swept Away by the Women's Team

Indonesia has ten world championship titles in men's doubles badminton, the highest number compared to other countries. However, the reputation of this category, which is usually a mainstay for "Merah Putih" in various levels of badminton championship competition, has declined, including at the World Championships.

The men's doubles championship title for Indonesia began with the first World Championship. This sector even produced finals featuring Indonesian athletes in the first two editions, namely in Malmo, Sweden, in 1977 and Jakarta in 1980. Tjun Tjun/Johan Wahyudi defeated Christian Hadinata/Ade Chandra in 1977, and then Christian/Ade won against Rudy Heryanto/Hariamanto Kartono in the subsequent event.

In the 1990s, Indonesia's men's doubles team won three world championship titles. After that, there was Hendra Setiawan, recognized as Indonesia's most successful men's doubles player. He set a challenging benchmark for the next generation with four titles.

The athlete who is currently a coach, Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Mohammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani, became a world champion alongside Markis Kido in 2007. Hendra has added three titles since partnering with Mohammad Ahsan in 2012, namely in the World Championships of 2013, 2015, and 2019.

Hendra/Ahsan have even set a high standard for Indonesian men's doubles by reaching the final of the 2022 World Championship at the ages of 38 and 35. In the same year, they reached the finals of other major events, including the All England and the BWF finals, and were still able to qualify for the All England final in 2023 before retiring in January 2025.

When Hendra/Ahsan were still active and have now stepped back from tournaments, only Fajar/Rian have been able to stand on the podium at the World Championships, specifically as semifinalists in 2019 and 2022. Along with the lack of achievements for Indonesia in the three editions prior to Paris 2025, from August 25 to 31, the legacy of Indonesian men's doubles has faded.

At the 2023 Copenhagen event, which was won by Seo Seung-jae/Kang Min-hyuk (South Korea), the best result for the Indonesian men's doubles was reaching the quarter-finals through Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Bagas Maulana and (once again) Hendra/Ahsan.

In the ongoing competition at the Adidas Arena in Paris, France, this week, no Indonesian men's doubles pair was able to advance past the third round. Fajar/Rian and Leo Rolly Carnando/Bagas were eliminated in the third round at the Adidas Arena on Thursday (28/8/2025). Fajar/Rian lost to Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi with scores of 21-13, 11-21, 17-21, while Leo/Bagas were defeated by Seo/Kim Won-ho with scores of 21-17, 9-21, 4-21.

Leo said their performance was poor in the second and third games because he was unable to play his role as a playmaker well.

In the quarterfinal competition on Friday, there were only three representatives from Indonesia competing, one of whom was Putri Kusuma Wardani, who faced the 2019 world champion, Pusarla V Sindhu. Putri burst into tears in the back corner of the court when Sindhu's shuttlecock fell out of bounds. Putri won with a score of 21-14, 13-21, 21-16 and will face Akane Yamaguchi in the semifinals.

By reaching the semifinals, Putri is entitled to a medal, at least a bronze. She becomes the first Indonesian women's singles player to win a medal at the World Championship since Lindaweni Fanetri in 2015.

Other representatives will compete in matches scheduled for Friday midnight and Saturday early morning Indonesian time. They are Jonatan Christie facing the defending men's singles champion, Kunlavut Vitidsarn, and Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi against Rin Iwanaga/Kie Nakanishi.

Leo/Bagas' performance in the third round was far below their standard at the All England final. Leo attributed their poor performance in the second and third games to his inability to effectively play as a playmaker.

"The first game went well until we were caught at 15-15 (from a 14-6 lead). After that, my mind went blank. I lost the feeling to hit. That's what messed up our game in the second and third games," Leo said.

Leo/Bagas or Fajar/Rian are actually targeted to bring home the world championship title from Paris 2025, according to the comments of men's doubles coach Antonius Budi Ariantho. During the athletes' preparation period at the national training center, Antonius mentioned the championship target for men's doubles.

However, the targets mentioned by Antonius, the determination of Fajar/Rian to achieve better results than the semifinals in their (potential) last World Championship, as well as the desire of Leo/Bagas to defeat Seo/Kim, were not realized. In fact, the men's doubles category has the most balanced competition among all events. Every pair that regularly competes in BWF World Tour tournaments has an equal chance of winning.

The results in Paris 2025 represent the current state of Indonesia's men's doubles strength, which is competing against other top world pairs, and illustrate the complexity of the homework that must be addressed in facing more difficult challenges. Moreover, the doubles sector is targeted to have competent permanent pairs starting in early 2026 to undergo the qualification for the Los Angeles 2028 Olympics, which begins in 2027.

Leo/Bagas and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Daniel Marthin have become the hopes for successors to Fajar/Rian, who have increasingly struggled to compete at the elite level since the conclusion of the Paris 2024 Olympics. However, since pairing up in August 2024, the performance of both pairs has remained inconsistent.

Leo/Bagas reached the semifinals of the Japan Open and won the Korea Open in the early stages of their partnership, but they were eliminated four times in the first two rounds of the remaining six tournaments in 2024.

In 2025, the finals of the All England and the semifinals of the Asian Championships were results that fostered hope in seeing them continue to develop. However, both still struggled to reintegrate their gameplay when Leo returned to compete after recovering from a left knee injury throughout May. They were eliminated in the first round of the Singapore, Indonesia, and Japan Opens, as well as in the second round of the China Open, during the period from June to July.

The pace of Fikri/Daniel is slower compared to Leo/Bagas, even though there were hopes for them to accelerate more quickly. Moreover, Fikri is the playmaker with a fast game, and Daniel has a stronger smash.

However, their partnership was disrupted by Daniel's injury, a situation that is always a risk for any athlete. After the Sudirman Cup in May, Daniel did not compete due to a knee injury and, according to his medical condition, he will only be able to return to competition in early 2026.

In this situation, Fikri was paired with Fajar, coinciding with Rian's leave from the tournament due to the anticipation of the birth of his first child. The results of the quarter-finals at the Japan Open and the championship at the China Open serve as benchmarks for PP PBSI to continue this partnership, at least until the end of 2025. Moreover, the championship title won by Fajar/Fikri at the China Open stands as the only championship title for Indonesia from the Super 1000 tournament.

Meanwhile, Fajar played alongside Fikri, while Rian was paired with Yeremia Erich Yoche Yacob Rambitan, who had previously partnered with the young player, Rahmat Hidayat. This pairing was dissolved due to their stagnant performance, including in lower-level tournaments, such as the Super 100 category.

In fact, 22-year-old Rahmat has potential, judging by his youth career with Rayhan Fadillah. The Rahmat/Rayhan duo won three titles out of five finals in junior tournaments and the International Challenge.

With the different conditions experienced by each athlete, the men's doubles are pressed for time to form a strong lineup. There are only four months left in 2025 to secure pairs that can consistently compete in the BWF World Tour tournaments.

As a sector with the most equitable competition (many good pairs from various countries), obtaining the right formation is certainly not an easy challenge.