Sudirman Cup, For What?

Only one out of the potential 50 championship titles was secured by Indonesia from ten badminton tournaments held in 2025. With this fact, what should be Indonesia's target for the Sudirman Cup Championship?

From tournament to tournament since the 2025 competition season began in the second week of January, the Indonesian team has often returned home without a championship title. This has occurred in the BWF Tour Super 100 tournaments, the mid-level BWF World Tour Super 300 and 500 tournaments, as well as the high-level Super 750 and 1000 tournaments.

The only representatives who returned with champion status were Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti/Lanny Tria Mayasari from the Thailand Masters Super 300 in early February. Another title came from the young squad aged 20 years and under at lower-tier tournaments, the Singapore and Sri Lanka International Challenge.

At the top level in the India Open Super 750, as well as the Malaysia Open and All England Super 1000, Indonesian athletes were outperformed by China, which secured four championship titles, as well as South Korea and Japan, each of which earned three titles.

Indonesia's failure to place athletes on the championship podium also occurred at the Asian Championship held in Ningbo, China, from April 8 to 13. In the final that took place on Sunday (13/4/2025), there were no representatives from Indonesia. The best result achieved by "Red and White" athletes in this Super 1000-level tournament was the semifinals, attained by Jafar Hidayatullah/Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu and Leo Rolly Carnando/Bagas Maulana.

China had five finalists, two of whom faced each other in the battle for the women's singles title, which was won by Chen Yu Fei. China's women's doubles pair, Liu Sheng Shu/Tan Ning, also emerged as champions after defeating the All England champions from Japan, Nami Matsuyama/Chiharu Shida.

In the men's singles category, Lu Guang Zhu faced Thailand's athlete, Kunlavut Vitidsarn, who ultimately emerged victorious. Meanwhile, the unseeded men's doubles pair, Chen Bo Yang/Liu Yi, challenged the sixth-seeded duo from Malaysia, Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik.

Only in the mixed doubles category, no Chinese players appeared in the final. The championship title in this category was claimed by Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Suet (Hong Kong) over Hidoki Midorikawa/Natsu Saito (Japan).

The absence of Chinese athletes in the mixed doubles final is the first time since Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir became the 2015 Asian champions by defeating Lee Chen Huei/Chau Hoi Wah (Hong Kong) in the final. After that, the Chinese pair always won in seven consecutive events until 2024. For the record, the 2020 and 2021 Asian Championships, which were originally scheduled to be held in Wuhan, China, were canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.

The absence of Chinese mixed doubles in the Asian Championships finals and defeats by athletes from other countries in the Malaysia Open and Indonesia Masters finals are situations that emerged during the generational change after Zheng Si Wei's retirement.

Zheng, who won various major events with Huang Ya Qiong, Wang Yi Lyu/Huang Dong Ping, and Feng Yan Zhe/Huang Dong Ping, is the world's best mixed doubles pair that dominated the competition from 2018 to 2024. Currently, the country is trying to rebuild its mixed doubles strength to continue the era of the seniors, especially Wang/Huang and Zheng/Huang as the gold medalists of the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics.

Despite failing to become Asian champions, China's mixed doubles won the All England through Guo Xin Wa/Chen Fang Hui. There was also Jiang Zhen Bang/Wei Ya Xin who won the India Open and has been ranked top in the world since March 18. However, their performance was not as consistent as Zheng/Huang and Wang/Huang.

The post-Olympics period, the last of which is Paris 2024, is always a moment for the formation or strengthening of the new generation of badminton power in each country. Apart from the mixed doubles, China is currently competing without the Paris 2024 women's doubles gold medalists, Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan, although they are playing in the Asian Championships because they qualified based on ranking. They can still reach the semifinals in their first joint appearance since the BWF Finals in December 2024.

Power shifts are also taking place in the women's singles. Wang Zhi Yi and Han Yue are above their senior, Chen Yu Fei. The 18-year-old women's singles, Tomoka Miyazaki, is also on her way to succeed Akane Yamaguchi in Japan.

Miyazaki, who is a year older than Indonesian athletes Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo and Ruzana, has only competed in the BWF World Tour tournament since 2023, but has shown great potential to continue Yamaguchi's success. She won the Orleans Masters Super 300 and entered the China Open Super 1000 in 2024. In 2025, her best result was becoming a semifinalist at the India Open.

Of all the athletes who actively competed this year, the best performance was shown by the new formation of the men's doubles from South Korea. The duet of Seo Seung-jae/Kim Won-ho became champions three times from six championships, two of which were from the Super 1000 tournament, namely the Malaysia Open and the All England.

Indonesian badminton is at the same stage, building strength after failing to win gold in Paris 2024. However, based on the results of ten tournaments, including the Asian Championships, Indonesia has lost its starting position compared to other countries. When China, Japan and South Korea ran from the starting line, Indonesia started behind them.

“Red and White” has potential young athletes such as Alwi Farhan, Ester, and other younger players. However, it still takes a long process to make them able to compete at the top level. This is because the gap in performance and achievements of seniors such as Jonatan Christie and athletes below him is too far. Likewise when compared to athletes from one generation from other countries.

Ester, for example, has a best result of the Australian Open Super 500 final in 2024, while Miyazaki has reached the final of a Super 1000 tournament. Miyazaki, too, can already be a participant in the main draw of Super 500 tournaments and above.

In men's singles, France, in fact, has Alex Lanier, a 20-year-old athlete ranked tenth in the world. Lanier adds to the Popov brothers, Christo and Toma Junior, in the BWF World Tour competition. In fact, this country does not have a strong tradition in badminton.

Lanier, who won bronze at the 2023 World Junior Championships when Alwi won, has three titles under his belt, including the Japan Open Super 750 in 2024 and this year's Orleans Masters Super 300. Alwi has only won at the Super 100 level and has yet to compete in qualifying for Super 500 tournaments and above.

Indonesia still relies on seniors, such as Jonatan, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, and Fajar Alfian/Muhamad Rian Ardianto to win major tournaments, even though they have struggled to consistently compete at the top level.

The men's singles, in fact, can be said to only have Jonatan at this time. Anthony must heal an injury to his right shoulder so he has been absent from the tournament since the end of the Malaysia Open, January 7-12.

Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo can still be a participant in the Super 1000 tournament until the All England which will take place in March. However, his continuously declining ranking—currently Chico is in 39th place—does not guarantee that he will immediately get a place again in the main round of the BWF World Tour.

The 26-year-old has only made it past the second round of a tournament three times since 2023. The first-round defeat at the Asian Championships was his 15th consecutive defeat in the first two rounds.

Gregoria Mariska Tunjung's performance has been up and down this year. She reached the semifinals of the India Open, but lost in the second round at the Asian Championships.

After Greysia Polii retired, the women's doubles had placed their hopes on Apriyani Rahayu/Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti. However, their journey was not smooth.

After Paris 2024, Apriyani will compete again in late February 2025, at the Orleans Masters and All England. However, the coach assessed that Apriyani's performance was not as expected. Fadia will continue her journey with Lanny Tria Mayasari, while Apriyani will be paired with Febi Setianingrum with the aim of bringing Febi to develop her abilities.

Apriyani/Fadia's stagnation elevated Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi as Indonesia's number one women's doubles and they have been in the world's top ten since December 2024. However, the world's eighth-ranked women's doubles have not been able to beat the world's top pairs from China, Japan and South Korea.

The mixed doubles, in fact, is complicated by the search for the right partner for the most senior players in the main national training camp. After not calling Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto back to the national training camp for 2025, PP PBSI paired Lisa Ayu Kusumawati with Rinov Rivaldy since early 2025. Meanwhile, Rinov's partner, Pitha Haningtyas Mentari, was paired with a young player, Verrel Yustin Mulia.

Mixed doubles coach Rionny Mainaky planned to bring back the Rinov/Pitha duo to continue their appearance at the Asian Championships. However, their names were not registered for the Taiwan Open, Thailand Open and Malaysia Masters tournaments, part of the Asian Tour that took place in May.

The positive thing about this number is the great potential of Jafar/Felisha, the youngest duo in the main national training center. Paired since August 2024, they have achieved some of their best achievements this year, namely the semifinals of the Super 300 tournament at the Thailand Masters, the second round of the Super 500 (Indonesia Masters), and the semifinals of the Asian Championship which is equivalent to the Super 1000.

Rionny assessed that if they can improve every deficiency, remain disciplined and work hard in training, have self-confidence, and are not easily satisfied with every result, Jafar/Felisha are ready to compete at the top level.

Their result in Ningbo was the best among four Indonesian mixed doubles representatives, including Rinov/Pitha as the most senior. Three championship titles from the international challenge and Super 100 tournaments in 2024 were obtained after defeating other seniors, Amri Syahnawi/Nita Violina Marwah and Adnan Maulana/Indah Cahya Sari Jamil.

However, based on the track record of great athletes in badminton and other sports, the process of becoming a champion and staying at the top level is a systematic and long process. Jafar/Felisha, aged 22 and 19, must be allowed to develop step by step.

Putri Kusuma Wardani, Indonesia's number two women's singles player behind Gregoria, is aware of the many factors she must have to be able to compete consistently against the world's top athletes.

Based on her experience against the world's second-ranked athlete, Wang Zhi Yi, in the first round of the Asian Championships, Putri assessed that she had not been able to play consistently from one point to another. According to the 22-year-old athlete, out of five points fought, she was only able to play without error in two points.

Despite having given all her abilities with high fighting spirit, Putri lost three games because of that deficiency. "In fact, playing against the world's top athletes, playing with minimal mistakes is a very important factor," she said.

In addition to women's singles and mixed doubles, men's doubles already have a reserve of players to continue Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto who are increasingly struggling to stay at the top level. Fajar/Rian started 2025 by losing in the first round of the Malaysia Open, the second round of the India Open, and reaching the final of the Indonesia Masters. After that, they were eliminated in the second round of the All England and the quarterfinals of the Asian Championships.

The men's doubles, in fact, have already produced potential pairs with the presence of Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Bagas Maulana since 2021 which changed to Leo/Bagas and Fikri/Daniel in August 2024. This year, Leo/Bagas reached the All England final and the semifinals of the Asian Championships.

However, their challenge is quite big considering that the men's doubles is the number with the tightest and most even competition involving many countries. In addition to pairs with new formations, many old players can still maintain their performance, such as Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik, Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izuddin (Malaysia), as well as players from China and Taiwan.

With the situation as described above, how does Indonesia face the next big challenge, the Sudirman Cup? The mixed team world championship will take place in Xiamen, China, April 47 – May 4.

The deadline for player registration from the 16 participating teams is Monday (14/4/2025). Although PP PBSI has not announced the members of the Indonesian Team until Sunday afternoon WIB, the list of athletes has certainly been compiled and may have been registered with the BWF.

Based on the current player material and competitive map, there are two target options that can also determine team members, in addition to their readiness factor. PBSI can set a champion target by prioritizing senior athletes based on their experience. Moreover, Indonesia has never won the Sudirman Cup after the first event in 1989 in Jakarta.

The second option is to set targets based on reality. When the seniors have lost the competition based on the results of the 2025 tournament that has taken place, it is not wrong for PBSI to give the young squad a chance to become the backbone.

This was done when the 2022 Thomas and Uber Cups were held in Thailand, May 8-15, very close to the 2021 Vietnam SEA Games badminton competition which was postponed a year due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The badminton medal match took place on May 16-22, 2022.

Realizing the fact that it is very difficult to overcome the strength of China, Japan, and South Korea in the Uber Cup, the Indonesian women's team was strengthened by young players/reserves aged 17-21 years. Instead of including the names of Gregoria and Putri, the women's singles relied on athletes such as Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi, Bilqis Prasista, and Tasya Farahnailah who were 17 years old at that time.

In the doubles, Apriyani, Fadia, and Ribka Sugiarto were also fielded at the SEA Games. Meanwhile, the Indonesian Uber Team was strengthened by Febriana/Amalia, Lanny, and Jesita Putri Miantoro.

Although it is quite ironic, considering that the best athletes are actually being fielded in lower competitions, the decision is very realistic. Gregoria and her friends were fielded in the SEA Games to achieve the target of winning a gold medal from the government, while the young squad gained valuable experience playing at the Uber Cup level.

Despite losing in experience competing in the BWF World Tour tournament, the Indonesian women's team qualified for the quarterfinals as the second-ranked team in Group A below Japan. Komang and her friends won 5-0 over France and Germany and lost 1-4 to Japan.

The young squad performed well without any burden to beat higher ranked opponents. One of the surprises was made by Bilqis who defeated Yamaguchi.

In the quarterfinals, Indonesia lost 0-3 to China, but every player who was fielded had valuable experience facing the giant power in the women's sector. Bilqis was able to force He Bing Jiao to play three games.

Something similar to five years ago could be applied in the 2025 Sudirman Cup. When statistics that can be used as material for strength analysis show that the chances of winning are slim, there is nothing wrong with lowering the target with a long-term goal. Prioritizing reserve/young athletes can be a foundation when currently in the process of rebuilding strength.