Hendra Setiawan
Hendra Setiawan is an Indonesian badminton player. He is an Olympic Games gold medalist, four-time World Champion, two-time Asian Games gold medalist, and two-time All England champion. With these achievements, Setiawan has collected all major individual titles in badminton. He is considered to be one of the greatest Indonesian badminton players of all time.
Setiawan was ranked first in the men's doubles with two different partners. Together with Markis Kido, he achieved the world no. 1 in September 2007, and with Mohammad Ahsan in November 2013. He has won six gold medals at the SEA Games, 3 in the men's doubles, and 3 in the team event. Teamed-up with Kido, he won the men's doubles titles at the 2005 and 2009 Asian Championships; the 2006 World Cup; the 2007 World Championships; the 2008 Olympic Games; and the 2010 Asian Games.
Setiawan had also played in the mixed doubles discipline, and his best result was in 2010 Indonesia Open, finishing as runner-ups with his partner Anastasia Russkikh from Russia.
His other notable partnership in men's doubles was with Mohammad Ahsan. They won numerous prestigious titles including the 2013, 2015 and 2019 World Championships; the gold medal in 2014 Asian Games, winning the All England twice, and winning three times at the BWF Superseries Finals. Setiawan currently holds the record as the oldest World Championships title holder, after winning the 2019 edition at the age of 35.
Early life
Hendra Setiawan was born in Pemalang, Central Java to Ferry Yugianto and Kartika Christyaningrum. He is the youngest of three siblings. Setiawan became interested in badminton when he saw his father playing the sport, and he took up the sport at the age of seven, training at the Sinar Mutiara Tegal club. After graduating from middle school, Setiawan decided to move to Jakarta, train in the Jaya Raya club, and continue his education at the Ragunan Sports School.Career
2001–2002: Career beginnings
Setiawan began his international journey at the 2001 Asian Junior Championships, where he won the bronze medals in the boys' team and mixed doubles events. He then claimed the boys' team gold medal in the 2002 Asian Junior Championships, where the Indonesian team beat South Korea in the final. In the individual event, Setiawan was defeated in the semi-finals and won the bronze medals in the boys' doubles with Riyadi, and also in the mixed doubles with Devi Sukma Wijaya. He played at the 2002 World Junior Championships held in Pretoria, South Africa, and the Indonesia team won the bronze medal after beating Thailand 3–1 in the bronze medal play-off. At the age of seventeen, Setiawan partnered with Joko Riyadi to reach the finals of the 2002 Singapore Satellite, and the duo finished runner-up to Donny Prasetyo and Denny Setiawan.2003–2005: Southeast Asian and Asian champion
In 2003, Setiawan made his debut with Markis Kido at the Asian Championships, finishing as runner-up, thus winning a silver medal. He then won his first gold medal with the Indonesian team at the 2003 SEA Games in Vietnam. Setiawan reached his first IBF Grand Prix finals in the 2004 Denmark Open, but he and Kido were defeated by the home pairing of Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen in straight games.In 2005, Setiawan and Kido were qualified to compete in the top tournaments, as they had accumulated enough ranking points to do so. They won their first Grand Prix title in the Indonesia Open, beating their senior compatriots Sigit Budiarto and Candra Wijaya in the final. The duo also crowned as Asian Champion after winning the 2005 Asian Badminton Championships held in India. In November–December, Setiawan took part in his second SEA Games, and won a gold medal in the men's doubles with Kido and a silver in the men's team event.
2006: World Cup title
Setiawan made his first appearance in the Thomas Cup in 2006. The Indonesian men's team eventually finished 3rd, losing to China in the semi-finals 0–3. At the 2006 Indonesia Open, ranked 14th in the world, Setiawan and Kido advanced to the final of the 2006 Indonesia Open after beating Jung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae of South Korea in the semi-finals. They were unable to defend their title after being defeated by the 2000 Olympic champions, Tony Gunawan and Candra Wijaya in the final. Bouncing back from the loss, they later won their first title of the year in the Hong Kong Open. At the 2006 World Championships, Setiawan and Kido lost in the quarter-finals to England's Robert Blair and Anthony Clark. This was their second loss to Blair and Clark, where earlier in the year they were also beaten in the second round of the All England Open. In October, Setiawan and Kido, then ranked 9th in the world, won the China Open by beating reigning World champions Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng in the final in straight games. Setiawan and Kido then claimed the 2006 World Cup, beating the Malaysian pairing of Lin Woon Fui and Fairuzizuan Tazari in the final. He competed in the 2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, but lost in the semi-finals of both the men's doubles with Kido and in the men's team, settling for bronze medals in both events.2007: World champion and world number 1
Beginning without winning any tournaments in early 2007, in August, Setiawan and Kido won the World Championships title in August, defeating Jung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae in the final, 21–19, 21–19 in straight games. Prior to the World Championships, their best achievement in the first half of 2007 was being the runner-up at the China Masters. After the World Championships, they reached the semi-finals in the Japan Open and won the Chinese Taipei Open. These wins propelled Setiawan and Kido to world number 1 on the BWF World Rankings. Later in 2007, Setiawan and Kido managed to defend their title in the China and Hong Kong Opens. They also reached semi-finals in the Macau and Denmark Opens, but they were defeated by Malaysian pair Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong in both tournaments. Setiawan and Kido had never won a single match to Koo and Tan since their first meeting in January 2007 at the Malaysia Open, and the head-to-head record between the pairs stood at 0–4. Setiawan then made his third appearance at the SEA Games in Thailand, and helped Indonesia win the men's team gold. Setiawan then won his second men's doubles gold medal at the Games with Kido, defeating Hendri Saputra and Hendra Wijaya in the final.2008: Olympic champion
Setiawan and his partner, Markis Kido, opened the 2008 season by winning the Malaysia Open. Unfortunately, in the following tournaments, they were defeated in the early rounds, namely in the Korea and All England Opens. They then reached the final of the Swiss Open, but lost to Korean pair Jung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae in rubber games. Setiawan played at the Thomas Cup held in Jakarta, but he and Indonesia team lost 0–3 in the semi-finals match against South Korea. Later in August, Setiawan and Kido participated in the Beijing Olympics games, managing to make it to the finals. The finals were held on 17 August, the Independence Day of Indonesia. In the final, Setiawan and Kido won the gold medal, beating the home pair of Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng in three games, 12–21, 21–11, 21–16.After the Olympics, Setiawan and Kido won the next three tournaments in a row, the China Masters, Denmark Open, and the French Open. Their tournament streak came to an end when they lost to arch-rivals Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong in the quarter-finals of the Hong Kong Open. They then topped the BWF Super Series ranking and qualified to compete at the Super Series Masters Finals held in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia. They finished in the semi-finals after being defeated by Jung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae of South Korea.
2009–2012: Asian Games champion, splitting up with Kido
Setiawan started the 2009 season as the semi-finalists in the Malaysia Open with his partner Kido who was injured at the time. As the only Indonesian participant in the 2009 Asian Championships held in Suwon, South Korea, Setiawan and Kido managed to win their second Asian Championships title, beating local favorites Ko Sung-hyun and Yoo Yeon-seong in the final. In May, Setiawan competed at the Sudirman Cup in Guangzhou, China. Since Kido still had an injury, Setiawan paired with Mohammad Ahsan in the semi-finals match against South Korea. However, Setiawan and Ahsan lost to Jung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae in the tie decider, losing 9–21, 19–21 in straight games. Indonesia lost to South Korea 1–3 overall. In June, they reached the finals of the Singapore Open and reached the semi-finals of the Indonesia Open. After skipping the 2009 BWF World Championships, Setiawan and Kido won their second title of the year at the Japan Open. Later, they successfully defended their title at the French Open. Despite being ranked second in the BWF Super Series rankings, Setiawan and Kido chose to skip the Super Series Masters Finals to prepare for the upcoming SEA Games. Setiawan and Kido then won their third men's doubles gold medal at the SEA Games, and also helped Indonesia to defend their gold medal in the men's team event. Prior to the SEA Games, Setiawan and Kido had submitted their resignation letters to Badminton Association of Indonesia, and chose to train at their club, Jaya Raya Jakarta.Setiawan began the 2010 season as an independent player, and competed in the National Championships in January. He and Kido, who also left the national team, won the National Championships title. Setiawan and Kido played at the All England Open, and finished in the semi-finals, their best performance while competing in that tournament at the time. They were then called to join the national team training center to compete in the Thomas Cup. Indonesia finished runner-up at that competition after losing to China in the final. While competing in the men's doubles with Kido, Setiawan started a new partnership in the mixed doubles with Anastasia Russkikh of Russia. His debut with Russkikh did not go well, since they were eliminated in the qualifying round of the Singapore Open. He and Kido also lost in the semi-finals to the Chinese Taipei pair of Fang Chieh-min and Lee Sheng-mu. Setiawan and Russkikh then started to gain traction after reaching the finals of the Indonesia Open, but they failed to win the title after being defeated by the Polish pair of Robert Mateusiak and Nadieżda Zięba.
Setiawan finally won his first international title of the year with Kido at the Malaysia Grand Prix Gold. He and his partner, Kido, beating Hendra Aprida Gunawan and Alvent Yulianto in the final. Setiawan and Kido competed at the BWF World Championships in Paris, and won a bronze medal after being defeated by Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng in the semi-finals. At the Europe tour in October–November, Setiawan and Kido finished runner-up at the Denmark Open and semi-finals at the French Open. In the mixed doubles with Russkikh, the duo lost in the first round in Denmark, and in the quarter-finals in France. Setiawan and Kido later won the gold medal in the 2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China after beating Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong. Saving 2 match points in the second set, they won 16–21, 26–24, 21–19, winning their first Asian Games gold. Setiawan and Kido ended the 2010 season as finalists in the Hong Kong Open. This qualified them to compete at the Super Series Finals which would be held in January 2011.
In 2011, Setiawan and his partner, Markis Kido competed at the 2010 BWF Super Series Finals. They were forced to withdraw from the competition after Setiawan sustained knee injuries in a group match. Setiawan then had a title drought in 2011, where he never won any tournaments that year either in the men's doubles with Kido or in the mixed doubles with Russkikh. His best performance at that year was only as semi-finalists in the men's doubles at the Indonesia, Japan and Denmark Open; as well as being semi-finalists in the mixed doubles at the All England Open. Setiawan and Kido then competed at the SEA Games, helping the Indonesia men's team to defend their gold medal. In the men's doubles event however, Setiawan and Kido failed to defend their title, winning a silver medal after losing to Mohammad Ahsan and Bona Septano in the final. Setiawan-Kido then closed the 2011 season ranked as world number 10.
In 2012, apart from competing with Kido in the men's doubles, Setiawan also played in the mixed doubles with new partner Vita Marissa. Setiawan and Marissa started their debut in Europe tour in February–March, but gave undesiring results after losing in the early rounds at the German, All England and Swiss Opens. His best achievements with Marissa were reaching the quarter-finals at the Singapore Open. In men's doubles, Setiawan and Kido clinched the men's doubles title at the Australia and Singapore Open. However, they did not obtain enough points to compete at the 2012 Summer Olympics in London. Setiawan then split up with Kido at the end of 2012. Later, Setiawan decided to rejoin the Indonesia national training center, and paired up with a new partner, Mohammad Ahsan, which he had previously been paired with in team competitions and international tournaments. They made their individual event debut at the Denmark Open, and finished as the semi-finalists after being defeated by Shin Baek-cheol and Yoo Yeon-seong of Korea.