Badminton: Where are the famous Indonesian doubles pairings in an Olympic year? All England could be the start of their re-emergence | Badminton News

The Indonesian doubles dominance had gone missing until this week at All England. Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto have resurfaced making semis at Birmingham, just in time to announce their intent to be in contention for the Olympics. But it’s been a curious absence for the Indonesian pairings in tournaments since October.Hendra Setiawan and Mohammed Ahsan would probably just smile and wave it off if Satwiksairaj Rankireddy actually got down to gushing about them, to their face in his inimitable way. So just as well that Satwik and Chirag Shetty chose to bow deep and complete an awkwardly rushed but genuinely emotional namaskar at the net, after beating their idols in the first round of the All England.
The ‘Daddies’ might still turn up in Birmingham next year, you never know. But the Indian heirs apparent to the greatness throne that the Indonesians once sat on, had wordlessly conveyed their respect and adoration to the legends should it be the last year they play.
Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto celebrate on the podium after winning the men’s doubles final along with runners-up Indonesia’s Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in All England Badminton Championships 2023. (Reuters)
Called Daddies because the thrice World champions continued to stay competitive – they even made the last two All E finals – well into their late 30s, the duo are respected unequivocally and universally. Setiawan famously denied the Chinese their home Olympics gold at the Beijing 2008 final with Markis Kido. But along with Ahsan deep into his second innings, the Indonesians have never left the perch of excellence. Though it’s not in the number of titles that evokes everyone’s respect; it’s their calm, classical, cerebral game coupled with no airs.
Deeply invested in the construction of every point, exploring changes in pace and variety in angles, Setiawan-Ahsan’s is not a game of slam-bang hitting at frenzied speed, tippling with power. They played the flat, fast parallels alright, at times, but they oozed serene skills like none other. They don’t talk very much and despite the insane shotmaking – as good as Taufik Hidayat’s in singles – have never been linked solely to style. Unfazed, understated, and undeterred, the duo have played countless finals, breaking down impetuous shotmaking of opponents. 2024 though might be their last season.

With the retirement of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon on his 33rd birthday, one-half of the energetic ‘Minions’ also bows out, leaving a blur-shaped hole in sizzling international doubles. With Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, he formed one of the most exciting pairings on the circuit as the short-statured duo scaled the tallest of heights, in every arena they played. They lit up 25 tournament finals in a short span, and though they never medalled at the World Championships or Olympics jaw-droppingly, their blitzing game with short snappy returns, ridonculous net skills, and bumblebee movements, made them World No 1s for long.
Both were taunted as kids for being too tiny in Indonesia and told they wouldn’t succeed. Both put in insane hard work to build up scorching-paced games and racquet skills that left opponents disoriented, and scrambling in vain. While Sukamuljo at 28 might still carry on, Indonesia’s iconic decade-definers will never be seen together again on the pro-tour, where they dwarfed the biggest singles names in popularity.
Indonesian men’s doubles badminton had four pairs in the world’s Top 10 till two All England’s ago. But their predominance seems to have disappeared almost overnight, with titles vanishing as well. Muhammad Shohibul Fikri and Bagas Maulana came out of nowhere to win a splendid All England two editions ago. Alfian and Ardianto did the same in 2023, even occupying the top spot in the world rankings too briefly. But their success hasn’t been consent enough as they take their time to match the Daddies or Minions.
3 Indonesia’s Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan celebrate after winning their men’s doubles semi final match against China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang after All England Badminton Championships 2023. (Reuters)
The conventional back court-front court pair of Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin have the game and the potential to get consent in the Top 5 in coming years. But the steady stream of title contenders, that Indonesia was known for and their golden age of merry marauding, can be said to be over.
With their diminishing dominance, the circuit is a tad quieter of rippling laughter, more intense with taut aspirations, and a shade duller – shorn of magical wr skills and the giddy flat, fast exchanges. Chinese Liang Wei Keng-Wang Chang tend to play that style and smile plenty, but the mirthful joie de vivre of instinctive repartee of the shuttle isn’t the same. The Daddies and Minions won often but never looked like reeling under the tyranny of winning. Excellence came naturally to them.
The Koreans play extremely technical badminton, and the Japanese abhor errors, but stick to predictable albeit disciplined patterns. Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik are a creative pair, but they are bogged down medal pressures that Malaysians pile on them incessantly. Indonesian champion pairings of the past trailed in deciders and lost their fair share of matches, but there was always a hint of a last-moment he, the whiff of a turnaround in the mad quick exchanges, where nerves didn’t meddle with high-skilled badminton.
Greater the pressure, mightier the shot-making in the crunch. Spectators would be on the edge of their seats, but the Indonesian pairings showed ice-cold veins, as badminton flowed effortlessly, and spectators stayed captivated, results notwithstanding.
Perhaps as the Olympics draw closer, FajRi and Bakri (as their current two top pairings are nicknamed) might start striking a semblance of consency. But nothing can match the dazzle-and-disappearance of the gloriously named Yeremia Erich Yotje Yacob Rambitan and Pramudya Kusumawardana, who turned up to win the Badminton Asia Championships last May and the SEA Games. In between the two titles, Rambitan nastily tore an ACL, while Kusumawardana loyally and patiently waited for him to recover. But results on the circuit dawdled, and Kusumawardana hopped over to Australia to study psychology, quitting on badminton.
Indonesia is filled with such shooting stars – briefly dazzling, before vamoozing, never to be seen again. The enduring charm is in the fact that when they go missing, they are missed.