Women's Doubles Reshuffle: Apriyani/Fadia Suspected of Returning

JAKARTA, KOMPAS – With five months remaining in 2025, the women's doubles sector is focused on finding partners who can compete at the top level globally, with the primary target being the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics. The main national training program for badminton consists of four pairs, including Apriyani Rahayu, who will reunite with Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti.

In a statement released by the Central Board of the Indonesian Badminton Association (PP PBSI) on Friday (1/8/2025), four pairs will compete in the Asia Tour in September, specifically at the Hong Kong Open and China Masters. In addition to Apriyani/Fadia, the other three pairs are Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi/Lanny Tria Mayasari, Rachel Allessya Rose/Febi Setianingrum, and Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/Meilysa Trias Puspitasari. They are a formation created from Febriana/Amalia, Rachel/Meilysa, Fadia/Lanny, and Apriyani/Febi.

Aside from the other three pairs, Apriyani and Fadia have played together before. They were paired in 2022 after Greysia Polii (Apriyani's partner) retired. When Apriyani did not compete after the Paris 2024 Olympics, Fadia played with Lanny. They won the Indonesia Masters Super 100 title in 2024 and the Thailand Masters Super 300 in February 2025.

After becoming champions in Thailand, Fadia partnered again with Apriyani, who returned to the tournament after a seven-month absence. They competed in the Orleans Masters and All England in March.

However, since May, Apriyani has received a different partner and responsibility when paired with Febi. She must guide Febi, a 21-year-old athlete with limited competition experience in the BWF World Tour events.

Until the Macau Open, from July 29 to August 3, Apriyani/Febi participated in five tournaments with their best result being the semifinals of the Malaysia Masters Super 500. In Macau, Apriyani/Febi will compete in the quarterfinals scheduled for Friday afternoon.

On Thursday, when met at the badminton training center in Cipayung, Jakarta, the Head of Development and Achievement of PBSI, Eng Hian, mentioned changes in the women's doubles pair. The day after that, Karel Mainaky, the women's doubles coach, confirmed the formation that has been established and the tournament that will be participated in.

Karel stated that the change is based on the target of enabling them to penetrate the elite global competition, which always involves players from China, South Korea, Japan, and Malaysia.

"Since I arrived (at the national training center) in April, after observing several tournaments, I began to study each individual. I believe they will perform better if they switch partners. With this new pairing, the chances of reaching the elite level are quite significant," said Karel.

One of the changes was made to Febriana/Amalia. They have been paired since 2019 and have ranked in the top ten in the world since the end of 2024. However, Febriana/Amalia have consistently struggled to penetrate the strength of the Chinese women's doubles, such as Liu Sheng Shu/Tan Ning; Japan; South Korea; and Malaysia.

During their six years as a pair, the best result achieved by Febriana/Amalia in BWF individual tournaments was winning the Taiwan Open Super 300 and the Australia Open Super 500 in 2024. This achievement is part of six finals at the Super 100, 300, and 500 levels.

However, before parting ways, Febriana/Amalia will compete in the Badminton World Championship in Paris, France, from August 25 to 31. They are the Indonesian women's doubles team eligible to participate in this major event alongside Fadia/Lanny.

The new couple, who will begin to showcase their abilities in September, is considered by Karel to possess good individual skills. His optimism arises from their demonstrated improvement during practice matches at the national training center.

"Their collaboration has been tested in practice and progress is evident. For instance, when facing the senior national training pair, the older pair lost more often. However, the new pair was able to win with a changed playing pattern. Perhaps, there is also a new spirit. Thus, they are ready for a new adventure," said Karel.

Karel, like Eng Hian, stated that the remaining five months in 2025 will be used for trials to form different formations in order to find the best pair. The target is to prepare them to compete at a high level in 2026, and then participate in the Olympic qualifications in 2027.

"In the remaining months of this year, I want to see four women's doubles pairs accumulate as many points as possible in the tournament. Thus, next year they can directly participate in higher-level tournaments," said Karel.

In addition to the women's doubles, changes may also occur in the men's doubles, although not involving all pairs. A player in need of a partner in the near future is Mohammad Shohibul Fikri, as his partner, Daniel Marthin, is still recovering from a left knee injury.

After the Indonesia Open in June, Eng Hian mentioned that one solution is to pair Fikri with an athlete from the national training center. However, after Fikri and Fajar Alfian won the China Open Super 1000, other options emerged. The Fajar/Fikri duo could continue, while the athlete paired with the national training player is Muhammad Rian Ardianto, who has been partnered with Fajar for 11 years.

Eng Hian stated that the decision regarding the new pair and their program will be determined after further discussions with the men's doubles coach led by Antonius.