Aichi-Nagoya 2026: Indonesian Women’s Badminton Athletes Exit Early in Individual Events

Team Success Gives Way to Individual Exits

The stark shift in fortunes followed a strong run in the women’s team event held from September 20 to 24. Operating under a format mirroring the Uber Cup—which demands three singles players and two doubles pairs per fixture—Indonesia opened with a 3-0 sweep of Mongolia, defeated Taiwan 3-1 in the quarter-finals, and fell 0-3 to China in the semi-finals. During those team matches, players received direct backing from teammates sitting immediately behind the court.

That communal atmosphere evaporated when the tournament transitioned to individual brackets. Athletes faced matches accompanied solely by coaches, stripped of the immediate vocal support of their peers. Without that collective backing, the contingent’s singles and doubles contenders bowed out before the quarter-final stage.

Singles Contenders Bow Out in Ichinomiya

Putri Kusuma Wardani, ranked sixth in the world in women’s singles and carrying medal expectations, exited in the third round on Saturday, September 26, 2026. She fell 19-21, 13-21 to India’s Unnati Hooda. Earlier that same day, Putri defeated Pakistan’s Mahoor Shahzad 21-5, 21-11 in the second round, forcing her to contest two matches in a single day.

“I am disappointed that I could not win today and I am also not satisfied with my performance,” Putri said after the match. “Unnati just finished a match against Wong Ling Ching with a tight rubber game, I should have been more prepared. Compared to our previous meeting, she accelerated the pace of the game and I was confused in responding to her rallies.”

Putri’s previous meeting with Hooda came in the semi-finals of the Hylo Open 2025. Her exit at the Ichinomiya venue halted her target of reaching the Asian Games semi-finals, continuing a difficult stretch following a semi-final appearance at the Japan Open Super 750 in mid-July, a quarter-final loss at the China Open, and a third-round exit at the World Championship in New Delhi, India.

Thalita Ramadhani Wiryawan, a compatriot from the national training center, exited even earlier. She fell in the second round to Vietnam’s Nguyen Thuy Linh with scores of 15-21, 10-21.

Doubles Pairs Fall Against World-Class Opposition

The nation’s women’s doubles pairs met a similar fate. Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma and Meilysa Trias Puspitasari pushed reigning world champions Lee So-hee and Baek Ha-na of South Korea to three games in the second round on Saturday before dropping the match 16-21, 21-15, 9-21. Fellow pair Rachel Alessya Rose and Febi Setianingrum exited in the first round against Malaysia’s Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan.

Shifting Focus to Remaining Brackets

With the women’s singles and doubles draws emptied, the Indonesian contingent turned its attention to the remaining categories for Sunday’s quarter-finals. Men’s singles, men’s doubles, and mixed doubles representatives advanced into the weekend rounds, featuring pairs such as Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin, and Amri Syahnawi and Nita Violina Marwah, alongside Jonatan Christie.

Leo and Daniel secured their quarter-final spot on Saturday by defeating Thailand’s Peeratchai Sukphun and Pakpapon Teeraratsakul 21-8, 24-22. The Thai pair entered the tournament having eliminated India’s Chirag Shetty and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy, the fifth-ranked pair and reigning gold medalists from the Hangzhou 2022 Asian Games.

“Thank God, we are grateful to have won,” Daniel said after the match. “Indeed, in the second game, after leading 10-2, we became somewhat complacent and rushed, which caused us to panic. That should not have happened. After this victory, we must not be overconfident because we need to be more prepared for tomorrow.”