Pay Attention to Non-Technical Matters at the World Badminton Championships

PARIS, MONDAY – The Badminton World Championship at the Adidas Arena, Paris, France, begins on Monday (25/8/2025). Most Indonesian athletes, who will start competing on the second day, have time to refine their preparations, particularly in non-technical aspects.

Out of the 12 representatives, the Indonesian player who competed on the first day of the championship was women's singles Gregoria Mariska Tunjung. In the match that took place on Monday afternoon local time or Monday evening Indonesian time, Gregoria faced Czech athlete Petra Maixnerova. The winner of this match will face Milena Schnider or Julie Dawall Jakobsen in the second round.

Gregoria is among the players in the upper half of the draw, thus she will compete on the first day of the championship, similar to the singles players in the upper half. In addition to Gregoria, who is seeded seventh, other women's singles seeds competing on the first day include Chen Yu Fei (4), Ratchanon Intanon (10), and An Se-young (1) as the defending champion.

In the men's singles, an immediate surprise occurred on the first day of the tournament with the elimination of the world number four player, Li Shi Feng. The 2023 All England champion lost to Japanese player Yushi Tanaka, with a score of 21-19, 11-21, 15-21.

Bronze medalist of the Paris 2024 Olympics, Lee Zii Jia, also lost in the first round against Jeon Hyeok-jin. Lee lost with scores of 17-21, 11-21.

In addition, the competition was highlighted by a "big match" between Shi Yu Qi and Lakshya Sen, marking the opening day of the championship. Although Sen is ranked 21st in the world, he is a formidable opponent for anyone in the first round, including Shi, who holds the top world ranking and is the number one seed.

Sen has won five BWF World Tour titles since competing in the arena in 2019. The 24-year-old Indian player reached the semifinals of the 2021 World Championships, the finals of the 2022 All England, and led India to victory in the 2022 Thomas Cup.

Meanwhile, 11 other representatives from Indonesia have additional preparation time before their first matches. Three men's singles players, namely Jonatan Christie, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, and Alwi Farhan, will compete in the first round on Tuesday. Similarly, Putri Kusuma Wardani will face Lo Sin Yan Happy, and Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari will compete against Dhruv Kapila/Tanisha Crasto (16) in the first round.

I hope that athletes can pay more attention to non-technical matters, such as maintaining their diet and resting to adapt to differences in time and weather.

The seeded men's and women's doubles players, including representatives from Indonesia, will compete starting from the second round on the same day against the winners of the first round taking place on Monday. They are Leo Rolly Carnando/Bagas Maulana, Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto, and Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi. Meanwhile, Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Mohammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani, Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti/Lanny Tria Mayasari, and Jafar Hidayatullah/Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu will play their first match (second round) on Wednesday.

Rian said that with the even competition in the men's doubles, he had to focus on each match. Moreover, after receiving a bye in the first round, they could face Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi in the third round.

With the remaining time, players are reminded to maintain their physical condition. "I hope that the athletes can pay more attention to non-technical matters, such as maintaining their diet and resting to adapt to the differences in time and weather," said the Head of Development and Achievement of PP PBSI Eng Hian after the Indonesian team trained on Sunday.

The Indonesian team arrived in Paris on Friday night and began training on Saturday morning. The remaining time before the match was used for acclimatization, including adapting to the five-hour time difference between Jakarta and Paris.

Eng Hian also reminded athletes to manage their expectations in this highest-level individual championship. Each athlete should have a target, but the focus must be directed towards the nearest challenges, one at a time.

Through Eng Hian, PBSI stated the target of one championship title after Indonesia did not secure any titles at the World Championships in 2022 and 2023. The last title for "Merah Putih" was achieved in 2019 by Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan.

One of the mixed doubles representatives, Jafar/Felisha, is trying to manage expectations amid the enthusiasm of qualifying for the World Championship for the first time. This event is also represented by Rinov/Pitha.

"This is my dream, to compete in the World Championship. Although I am very enthusiastic, I still have to control myself to not be overly eager and to remain calm in my game," said Jafar.