Indonesian Mixed Doubles Sector Light

TAIPEI, SUNDAY – Jafar Hidayatullah/Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu won the second title for Indonesia from the BWF World Tour badminton tournament. They, along with Dejan Ferdinansyah/Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti, who competed in the final of the Taiwan Open Super 300 tournament, have become a beacon amid the declining prestige of mixed doubles in the global competition.

The final between the Indonesian mixed doubles took place at the Taipei Arena, Taiwan, on Sunday (11/5/2025). Jafar/Felisha defeated their training partners at the badminton national training center in Cipayung, Jakarta, with a score of 18-21, 21-13, 21-17. In the third game, Dejan/Fadia initially led by a significant margin of 14-7; however, Jafar/Felisha made a comeback.

Before Jafar/Felisha won the Taiwan Open, Indonesia had only secured one title from the BWF World Tour in 2025. That title was achieved by Fadia/Lanny Tria Mayasari at the Thailand Masters, which is also a Super 300 level tournament, in early February. In other events, Indonesia faced tough competition from several countries, such as South Korea, China, Japan, and Thailand.

The victory of Jafar/Felisha in Taiwan was a contrasting outcome compared to their previous encounter with Dejan/Fadia, which took place in the semifinals of the Thailand Masters. At that time, Dejan/Fadia won in three games but lost to the home representatives, Dechapol Puavaranukroh/Supissara Paewsampran, in the final.

"Thank God, I am very grateful to have won the Super 300 title. This has indeed been my immediate target, and I am happy to have achieved it. After this, I will aim for a title at a higher level," commented Felisha.

In the future, I want to improve, to be a champion in larger tournaments. I have my own targets that I wish to achieve, and I want to continue progressing.

Jafar expressed a similar sentiment. In the structure of the BWF World Tour, tournaments that are ranked higher than Super 300 include those at the Super 500, 750, and 1000 levels. The last Indonesian mixed doubles team to win a title at that level was Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti at the All England Super 1000 in 2020.

Since pairing up in August 2024, Jafar/Felisha had the opportunity to compete in a higher-level championship than Super 300 at the Indonesia Masters Super 500 tournament in January 2025. They were defeated in the second round.

"In the future, I want to improve, to be a champion in larger tournaments. I have my own targets that I want to achieve, and I want to continue to develop," said Jafar.

Based on the schedule prepared by the mixed doubles coaching team, Jafar/Felisha will have the opportunity to participate in four Asian Tour tournaments over the next four weeks. The tournaments are the Thailand Masters and Malaysia Masters Super 500, Singapore Open Super 750, and Indonesia Open Super 750.

Jafar/Felisha are one of the seven mixed doubles pairs in the main national training center. Despite being 22 and 19 years old, they are the highest-ranked mixed doubles pair from Indonesia, holding the 22nd position in the world rankings as of May 6.

Their potential was seen from the beginning of their partnership by winning three tournaments at the international challenge and Super 100 levels. Dejan/Fadia also showed their potential since their duet in 2025 by reaching two finals, the Thailand Masters and the Taiwan Open.

The two pairs stood out more compared to other pairs, such as Adnan Maulana/Indah Cahya Sari Jamil and Amri Syahnawi/Nita Violina Marwah, who reached the quarter-finals of the Thailand Masters as their best result.

Other senior players such as Rinov Rivaldy, Pitha Haningtyas Mentari, and Lisa Ayu Kusumawati will even have to undergo a partnership reshuffle in 2025. Rinov, who was paired with Lisa at the beginning of the year, will partner again with his former partner, Pitha. Meanwhile, Lisa will be paired with the young player, Verrell Yustin Mulia.

Rinov, Pitha, and Lisa were actually expected to be the successors of the Praveen/Melati era. However, they are struggling to develop and break into the elite level of the world, partly because there are no competent seniors in the national training center who can serve as role models.

In the mixed team championship of the Sudirman Cup in Xiamen, China, from April 27 to May 4, the mixed doubles drew attention as they only contributed one victory from five matches, from the group stage to the semifinals. That single victory was achieved against England, whose players' quality is below that of Indonesia. Subsequently, the Indonesian mixed doubles lost to India, Denmark, Thailand, and South Korea, despite having changed their formation.

Therefore, although the final between Indonesian players at the Taiwan Open only occurred at the Super 300 level, it serves as a beacon for the sector that enabled Indonesia to win a gold medal at the Rio de Janeiro 2016 Olympics through Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir.

"I hope this final serves as a motivation for the Indonesian mixed doubles team, whose performance has declined recently. I hope the mixed doubles team can compete with more confidence and achieve better results like their seniors in the past," said Dejan.