Formation Tweaks Against England

With young athletes and without top world players, England will be Indonesia's first opponent in the mixed team badminton championship, the Sudirman Cup, in Xiamen, China. Considering the next two steps, which will be more challenging to secure a chance to advance to the quarter-finals, it is essential to be discerning in selecting athletes, even though England's strength is below that of Indonesia.

The match between Indonesia and England in the Group D competition will take place at Fenghuang Gymnasium on the first day of the championship, Sunday (27/4/2025). Five events will be contested in the match starting at 16:00 WIB. At the same time, two other teams in Group D will also face each other, namely India and Denmark.

In the first session, starting at 08:30 WIB, matches will take place in Group B, namely between Taiwan and Canada, as well as South Korea against the Czech Republic. In Group A, Thailand will face Hong Kong.

A total of 16 teams divided into four groups will compete in a round robin format in the preliminary phase. Each team competes three times in this phase to compete for the top two positions in each group to advance to the quarterfinals.

Based on the global badminton strength map, the competition in Group D will be tighter compared to other groups. Although none of them possess equal strength across all categories, Indonesia, India, and Denmark have champions in specific events. All three even have mainstays in the same sectors, namely men's singles and doubles, to secure victory points.

The primary focus of Jonatan Christie and his teammates will be directed towards defeating England. However, Indonesia must assess its strength to face two tougher teams, namely India on Tuesday and Denmark on Thursday.

As one of the four European teams participating in the Sudirman Cup alongside Denmark, the Czech Republic, and France, England is not reinforced by the most experienced player in the BWF World Tour tournament, namely the men's doubles team of Sean Lane/Ben Vendy.

Of the 12 athletes registered, only two players participated in the 2023 Sudirman Cup, namely the 20-year-old men's singles player, Nadeem Dalvi, and Freya Redfearn (women's singles). Among all its athletes, the English representatives with the best world ranking are the mixed doubles pair, Callum Hemming/Estelle Van Leeuwen.

The pair ranked 28th in the world has four championship titles from international challenge/series tournaments, but still lacks experience at the BWF World Tour level (Super 300-1000). Since partnering in 2023, their best result in the BWF World Tour was reaching the quarter-finals of the Hylo Open Super 300 in 2023.

Like Hemming/Estelle, other athletes brought to the Sudirman Cup compete more often in international challenge/series tournaments. Only the men's doubles, Hemming/Ethan Van Leeuwen, have been able to participate more often in the BWF World Tour, including at the Super 1000 level. In 2025, they will appear at the Malaysia Open and All England.

Putri and Ester are ready to come down, I just need to chat with them.

Based on the records of the opposing team and one's own strengths, there are various scenarios that Indonesia can choose from in determining players for the opening match. The first alternative is to field all the best players from each category.

With tight competition, the results of each party will be very significant in determining the final position in the group. If there are two or more teams with the same number of victories, the difference in matches and the score difference will be the determining factors. Therefore, winning each match by a large score margin is the best scenario to start the performance.

If the ranking indicators used, "Merah Putih" will lower Jonatan and Putri Kusuma Wardani in the singles category. In the doubles sector, Indonesia has Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto, Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi, and Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari.

Another option is to field substitute players with the aim of conserving the energy of the main players. In men's singles, there is a choice between two young players making their debut at the Sudirman Cup, namely Alwi Farhan or Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah. Meanwhile, in women's singles, Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo can be selected.

Women's singles coach Imam Tohari expressed the readiness of Putri and Ester to compete against England. Each team competing in the second session, starting at 16:00 WIB, has a deadline to submit the names of athletes, a maximum of four hours before the match. Meanwhile, teams playing from 08:30 WIB must submit their athlete lists by 22:00 the day before.

"Putri and Ester are ready to compete; I just need to talk to them," said Imam, who also mentioned that the selection of athletes who will compete is based on the team's needs.

In doubles, each pair tends to have similar abilities. Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Daniel Marthin could be an alternative choice in men's doubles alongside Fajar/Rian.

In addition to these two pairs, there is also an opportunity to pair Fikri and Bagas Maulana as they did before changing partners since August 2024. This is made possible because Bagas arrived in Xiamen without his partner, Leo Rolly Carnando, who is suffering from a left knee injury.

In women's doubles, there are Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti/Lanny Mayasari as an alternative to Febriana/Amalia. Meanwhile, in mixed doubles, Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja and Dejan Ferdinansyah are included, who can be paired with Fadia.

Unlike the Thomas and Uber Cups, which are men's and women's team championships, selecting players for the Sudirman Cup in each event can be more flexible as it does not have to be based on world ranking positions. However, determining athletes for the Sudirman Cup requires greater discernment because only one representative can compete in each event.

So, there are various factors that each coach looks at when discussing to determine which athletes will compete. One of the factors used as an indicator is head to head (results of meetings) with potential opponents, especially in the most recent meetings. In addition, the suitability of the athlete's playing style to face the opponent who is expected to play is also examined.

Based on data from the official BWF website, almost all players from Indonesia and England have never met. Only Jonatan has previously defeated Dalvi at the 2024 Thomas Cup, and Putri won against Redfearn at the 2018 World Junior Team Championships.

The data from the meeting has been collected since in Jakarta, thus, as stated by the Chairman of the Development and Achievement Division of PP PBSI Eng Hian, in Xiamen, the coaching team only needs to assess the athletes' readiness from both physical and mental aspects. The pressure in team championships is greater compared to individual tournaments, so athletes must possess a stronger mental fortitude.

Vita Marissa, the coach of Rehan/Gloria at PB Djarum, expressed the same sentiment as Eng Hian. "The most crucial factor is the athletes' readiness leading up to the competition. We will assess their final condition to determine who will play," said Vita during the team's preparation period in Jakarta.

Based on his experience representing Indonesia in the Sudirman Cup, Thomas Cup, and team events at multi-sport competitions, Jonatan stated that athletes will be questioned by coaches about their readiness to compete. Many factors determine the selection of athletes; however, Jonatan emphasized that athletes must always be prepared when entrusted to play.

As repeatedly stated by the Indonesian badminton legend, Christian Hadinata, once athletes are entrusted to be members of the Indonesian Team, they must be ready to compete at any time.