Higher Target for Putri KW

PARIS, SATURDAY — Becoming the future badminton player of Indonesia, experiencing setbacks, and then winning the only medal for Indonesia at the Badminton World Championship. This journey was undertaken by Putri Kusuma Wardani for another target and a more challenging path.

The Indonesian single female player is assured of a bronze medal after losing to two-time world champion, Akane Yamaguchi, in the semifinals. In the match held at the Adidas Arena, Paris, France, on Saturday (30/8/2025), Putri lost with a score of 17-21, 21-14, 6-21.

Although unable to advance to the final phase, there are positive notes from the athlete commonly known as Putri KW, both for herself and for the women's singles in Indonesia. At the same venue a year ago, the women's singles sector delivered the only badminton medal at the Paris 2024 Olympics. The medal was earned by Putri's "older sister" in the national training center, Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, who lost in the third round in Paris 2025.

The results from these two major events have brought a breath of fresh air for Indonesia's women's singles after a long period of minimal achievements at the top level. In the competition of the World Championship, Putri became the first medalist since Lindaweni Fanetri in Jakarta 2015. The world champion title has only been claimed by Verawaty Fajrin in 1980 and Susy Susanti in 1993.

The bronze medal at the Adidas Arena has become a symbol of Putri's improved performance at the World Championship. In her debut at this highest level individual championship, Putri lost in the first round in Tokyo 2022, and then in the second round in Copenhagen 2023.

"It is truly extraordinary to win a bronze medal here. If I could turn back time, I would feel sad as well. I am here thanks to my parents and the people behind me who supported me when I fell," said Putri.

The ups and downs are a common phase experienced by athletes, including Putri. She became a young badminton star for Indonesia when she won the Spain Masters 2021 at the age of 19. This Super 300 category tournament was the second tournament that Putri participated in within the BWF World Tour.

A year later, Putri won the Orleans Masters at the same level. The Indonesian women's singles also has a backup athlete for Gregoria, who has been the mainstay of this sector since 2018, a year after rising from competition at the junior level.

However, the two years following her victory at the Orleans Masters were a challenging period for Putri. Moreover, she often faced matches against seeded players in the early rounds of tournaments.

The player has often been eliminated in the first two rounds. Out of 17 BWF tournaments participated in during 2023, she was eliminated in the first or second round 14 times. Her best results were only three quarter-final appearances at the Super 300 level.

When the stagnant performance continued into the following year, Putri stepped back from the tournament to regroup in June 2024. She underwent more intense training compared to any other program she had previously undertaken. The process of building physical strength and technical skills was carried out alongside restructuring her mental state and motivation.

From a state of decline, she gradually rose. Upon returning to competition in September 2024, Putri reached the finals in two consecutive tournaments, the Taiwan Open and the Hong Kong Open. Her first semifinal at a high level was achieved at the Denmark Open 750, followed by a championship title at the Korea Masters Super 300.

The beginning of 2025 was marked positively with a quarter-final finish at the Malaysia Open and Indonesia Masters, as well as a semi-final appearance at the Thailand Masters. Out of 10 tournaments and the Asian Championships, Putri reached the quarter-finals or better seven times.

Her performance has become increasingly refined when facing the world's best athletes, although there are still shortcomings that need to be addressed. When competing against Yamaguchi, Putri was slow to "heat up" in the first game. After trailing 8-13, she managed to turn the score around to 14-13. However, an additional six consecutive points for Putri was halted by Yamaguchi, who quickly scored the next four points.

Putri was able to control the course of the match better in the second game. She made Yamaguchi work hard to return the shuttlecock, which was often hit in a crosswise direction. This method was employed to keep the shuttlecock out of Yamaguchi's reach.

Putri did the same when she defeated the 2019 world champion, Pusarla V Sindhu, in the quarter-finals in three games. However, with a shorter stature than Sindhu, Yamaguchi was able to move more agilely, forcing Putri to always be in a state of readiness to face various situations. A battle of reflexes in shots near the net occurred repeatedly.

However, Putri could not apply the same pattern in the deciding game because Yamaguchi played at a fast pace from the start. Putri was always under pressure and could only score six points.

"I was not prepared for the change in Akane's playing style from the beginning of the third game. She increased her speed and attacked throughout the game, whereas that is not the pattern she usually plays," said Putri.

From the game, Putri mentioned one of the evaluation materials for other tournaments, which is the ability to respond quickly when the opponent changes their playing pattern. She was able to apply her game better during the Asia Tour, Hong Kong, and China Open, in September.

In the long term, Putri has set her sights on a higher target, which is to compete in the 2028 Los Angeles Olympics and reach the podium. "I want to show that I can compete at the top 10 level," she said.

With his victory, Yamaguchi has the opportunity to add to the world championship titles he won in 2021 and 2022. He can achieve this if he wins against An Se-young or Chen Yu Fei in the final.

If she were to win those three championship titles, Yamaguchi could match the achievement of Carolina Marin. This Spanish athlete is the only women's singles player to have three world championship titles (2014, 2015, 2018) since the event was held in 1977.

Marin has even surpassed the achievements of Chinese athletes who dominated the women's singles competition from the 1980s to 2012. During that period, China had Li Ling Wei, Ye Zhao Ying, Zhang Ning, Xie Xing Fang, and Wang Yi Han.

In the women's doubles competition, after becoming the first Malaysian players to win a medal, Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan have the opportunity to become world champions. They defeated Nami Matsuyama/Chiharu Shida in the semifinals with a score of 14-21, 21-13, 21-12.

Despite having many athletes with world-class achievements, Malaysia only secured the world champion title in Tokyo 2022. The title was won by the men's doubles team, Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik, who defeated Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan in the final.

In addition to Tan/Muralitharan, Malaysia has placed another representative in the mixed doubles final. Chen Tang Jie/Toh Ee Wei will face Jiang Chen Bang/Wei Ya Xin (China) after defeating the host representatives, Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue, with a score of 21-18, 21-16.