Jakarta, IO – Indonesia’s uninterrupted badminton medal tradition at the Asian Games came to an end after six decades when Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto lost in the quarter-finals of the men’s doubles event at the 2023 Asian Games in Hangzhou.
Since badminton made its debut at the 1962 Asian Games, Indonesian men’s doubles have never missed out on presenting medals for the nation. In the previous 15 championships, Indonesian players have won eight gold medals, the most among any participating countries.
Even in the three previous editions of the four-yearly games — 2010, 2014 and 2018 — Indonesia won gold medal in the men’s doubles event. Even when the gold medal slipped away, there were always silver or bronze medals as consolation.
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First-seeded Fajar/Rian who won silver at the 2018 Asian Games was defeated by the 2020 Olympic gold winners Lee Yang/Wang Chi-lin. Even though they were able to put up fierce resistance, in the end they lost 19-21, 18-21.
The day before, Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin were beaten by Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty. Indonesia’s rout should be a wake-up call to improve performance ahead of the 2024 Paris Olympics as the nation has never won any medal in the event since 2008. (un)