Indonesia’s struggles at the BWF World Championships deepened after national representatives missed out on the gold medal once again, extending a barren streak that now stretches back to 2019, according to reports from Antara News and CNN Sport Indonesia.
Amri and Nita Fall in New Delhi Semifinals
The final hopes for a world title at the 2026 BWF World Championships in New Delhi, India, rested on the shoulders of mixed doubles pair Amri Syahnawi and Nita Violina Marwah. Competing as a debutant pair without a seeded status, Amri and Nita advanced to the tournament’s penultimate round after claiming notable victories over top pairs, including All England 2026 champions Ye Hong Wei and Nicole Gonzales Chan in the round of 16, followed by 11th seeds Yang Po-Hsuan and Hu Ling Fang in the quarterfinals, as detailed by Antara News.
Their run concluded on Saturday in a grueling 97-minute semifinal battle against world number-one duo Feng Yan Zhe and Huang Dong Ping of China. Antara News reports that the unseeded Indonesian pair pushed the top seeds to the brink before falling 22-20, 14-21, 20-22. By leveling the score at 20-20 in the deciding third game, Amri and Nita came within two points of forcing an upset before the Chinese pair claimed the final two points to secure the match.
A Seven-Year Wait for World Championship Gold
The bronze medal secured by Amri and Nita ensures that Indonesia maintains a presence on the World Championships podium, but the wait for a gold medal continues. According to historical records highlighted by Antara News, the nation’s last world titles came in 2019 in Basel, Switzerland, where men’s doubles pair Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan claimed their third crown as a partnership by defeating Japan’s Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi 25-23, 9-21, 21-15.
Since that triumph in Basel, Indonesia has participated in four subsequent editions of the tournament—experiencing a cancellation in 2024 due to the Paris Olympic Games and an absence in 2021 when the PBSI withdrew its squad due to safety considerations surrounding the Omicron variant of COVID-19. Across those four intervening editions, national players have accumulated a total of five medals: two silvers and three bronzes, across four distinct disciplines.
Shifting Sectors and Ongoing Dry Spells
The distribution of recent podium finishes demonstrates competitiveness across multiple departments without a dominant figure to claim the ultimate prize:
- 2022 (Tokyo): Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan earned silver in men’s doubles, while Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto added a bronze.
- 2023 (Copenhagen): Women’s doubles pair Apriyani Rahayu and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti captured silver.
- 2025 (Paris): Women’s singles player Putri Kusuma Wardani secured a bronze medal after reaching the semifinals.
- 2026 (New Delhi): Mixed doubles debutants Amri Syahnawi and Nita Violina Marwah picked up the nation’s sole bronze.
