Hendra Setiawan (born 25 August 1984) is an Indonesianbadminton player. He is anOlympic Games gold medalist, four-timeWorld Champion, two-timeAsian Games gold medalist, and two-timeAll England champion. With these achievements, Setiawan has collected all major individual titles in badminton.[1][2] He is considered to be one of the greatest Indonesian badminton players of all time.[3]
Hendra Setiawan was born inPemalang,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.[11]
Setiawan began his international journey at the2001 Asian Junior Championships, where he won the bronze medals in the boys' team and mixed doubles events.[12] He then claimed the boys' team gold medal in the2002 Asian Junior Championships, where the Indonesian team beat South Korea in the final.[13] 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.[14] He played at the2002 World Junior Championships held inPretoria, South Africa, and the Indonesia team won the bronze medal after beating Thailand 3–1 in the bronze medal play-off.[15] At the age of seventeen, Setiawan partnered withJoko Riyadi to reach the finals of the 2002Singapore Satellite, and the duo finished runner-up to Donny Prasetyo andDenny Setiawan.[16]
In 2003, Setiawan made his debut withMarkis Kido at theAsian Championships, finishing as runner-up, thus winning a silver medal.[17] He then won his first gold medal with the Indonesian team at the2003 SEA Games in Vietnam.[18] Setiawan reached his first IBF Grand Prix finals in the 2004Denmark Open, but he and Kido were defeated by the home pairing ofLars Paaske andJonas Rasmussen in straight games.[19]
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 theIndonesia Open, beating their senior compatriotsSigit Budiarto andCandra Wijaya in the final.[20] The duo also crowned as Asian Champion after winning the2005 Asian Badminton Championships held in India.[21] 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.[22][23]
Setiawan made his first appearance in the Thomas Cup in2006.[24] The Indonesian men's team eventually finished 3rd, losing to China in the semi-finals 0–3.[25] At the2006 Indonesia Open, ranked 14th in the world, Setiawan and Kido advanced to the final of the2006 Indonesia Open after beatingJung Jae-sung andLee Yong-dae of South Korea in the semi-finals.[26] They were unable to defend their title after being defeated by the 2000 Olympic champions,Tony Gunawan andCandra Wijaya in the final.[27] Bouncing back from the loss, they later won their first title of the year in theHong Kong Open.[28] At the2006 World Championships, Setiawan and Kido lost in the quarter-finals to England'sRobert Blair andAnthony Clark. This was their second loss to Blair and Clark, where earlier in the year they were also beaten in the second round of theAll England Open.[29] In October, Setiawan and Kido, then ranked 9th in the world, won theChina Open by beating reigning World championsCai Yun andFu Haifeng in the final in straight games.[30] Setiawan and Kido then claimed the2006 World Cup, beating the Malaysian pairing ofLin Woon Fui andFairuzizuan Tazari in the final.[31] He competed in the2006 Asian Games in Doha, Qatar, but lost in the semi-finals of both themen's doubles with Kido and in themen's team, settling for bronze medals in both events.[32][33]
Beginning without winning any tournaments in early 2007, in August, Setiawan and Kido won theWorld Championships title in August, defeatingJung Jae-sung andLee Yong-dae in the final, 21–19, 21–19 in straight games.[34] Prior to the World Championships, their best achievement in the first half of 2007 was being the runner-up at theChina Masters.[35] After the World Championships, they reached the semi-finals in theJapan Open and won theChinese Taipei Open.[36][37] These wins propelled Setiawan and Kido to world number 1 on the BWF World Rankings.[38] Later in 2007, Setiawan and Kido managed to defend their title in theChina andHong Kong Opens.[39][40] They also reached semi-finals in theMacau andDenmark Opens, but they were defeated by Malaysian pairKoo Kien Keat andTan Boon Heong in both tournaments.[41][42] Setiawan and Kido had never won a single match to Koo and Tan since their first meeting in January 2007 at theMalaysia Open, and the head-to-head record between the pairs stood at 0–4.[a] Setiawan then made his third appearance at theSEA Games in Thailand, and helped Indonesia win the men's team gold.[45] Setiawan then won his second men's doubles gold medal at the Games with Kido, defeatingHendri Saputra andHendra Wijaya in the final.[46]
Setiawan and his partner,Markis Kido, opened the 2008 season by winning theMalaysia Open.[47] Unfortunately, in the following tournaments, they were defeated in the early rounds, namely in theKorea andAll England Opens.[48][49] They then reached the final of theSwiss Open, but lost to Korean pairJung Jae-sung andLee Yong-dae in rubber games.[50] Setiawan played at theThomas Cup held in Jakarta, but he and Indonesia team lost 0–3 in the semi-finals match against South Korea.[51] Later in August, Setiawan and Kido participated in theBeijing Olympics games, managing to make it to the finals. The finals were held on 17 August, theIndependence Day of Indonesia. In the final, Setiawan and Kido won the gold medal, beating the home pair ofCai Yun andFu Haifeng in three games, 12–21, 21–11, 21–16.[52][53]
After the Olympics, Setiawan and Kido won the next three tournaments in a row, theChina Masters,Denmark Open, and theFrench Open.[54][55][56] Their tournament streak came to an end when they lost to arch-rivalsKoo Kien Keat andTan Boon Heong in the quarter-finals of theHong Kong Open.[57] They then topped the BWF Super Series ranking and qualified to compete at theSuper Series Masters Finals held in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia.[58] They finished in the semi-finals after being defeated by Jung Jae-sung and Lee Yong-dae of South Korea.[59]
2009–2012: Asian Games champion, splitting up with Kido
Setiawan started the 2009 season as the semi-finalists in theMalaysia Open with his partner Kido who was injured at the time.[60] As the only Indonesian participant in the2009 Asian Championships held in Suwon, South Korea,[61] Setiawan and Kido managed to win their second Asian Championships title, beating local favoritesKo Sung-hyun andYoo Yeon-seong in the final.[62] In May, Setiawan competed at theSudirman Cup in Guangzhou, China. Since Kido still had an injury, Setiawan paired withMohammad Ahsan in the semi-finals match against South Korea. However, Setiawan and Ahsan lost toJung Jae-sung andLee Yong-dae in the tie decider, losing 9–21, 19–21 in straight games. Indonesia lost to South Korea 1–3 overall.[63] In June, they reached the finals of theSingapore Open and reached the semi-finals of theIndonesia Open.[64][65] After skipping the2009 BWF World Championships,[66] Setiawan and Kido won their second title of the year at theJapan Open.[67] Later, they successfully defended their title at theFrench Open.[68] Despite being ranked second in the BWF Super Series rankings, Setiawan and Kido chose to skip theSuper Series Masters Finals to prepare for the upcoming SEA Games.[69][70] Setiawan and Kido then won their third men's doubles gold medal at theSEA Games,[71] and also helped Indonesia to defend their gold medal in the men's team event.[72] Prior to the SEA Games, Setiawan and Kido had submitted their resignation letters toBadminton Association of Indonesia, and chose to train at their club, Jaya Raya Jakarta.[73]
Setiawan began the 2010 season as an independent player, and competed in the National Championships in January.[74] He and Kido, who also left the national team, won theNational Championships title.[75] Setiawan and Kido played at theAll England Open, and finished in the semi-finals, their best performance while competing in that tournament at the time.[76] They were then called to join the national team training center to compete in theThomas Cup.[77] Indonesia finished runner-up at that competition after losing to China in the final.[78] While competing in the men's doubles with Kido, Setiawan started a new partnership in the mixed doubles withAnastasia Russkikh of Russia.[79] His debut with Russkikh did not go well, since they were eliminated in the qualifying round of theSingapore Open.[80] He and Kido also lost in the semi-finals to the Chinese Taipei pair ofFang Chieh-min andLee Sheng-mu.[81] Setiawan and Russkikh then started to gain traction after reaching the finals of theIndonesia Open, but they failed to win the title after being defeated by the Polish pair ofRobert Mateusiak andNadieżda Zięba.[8][82]
Setiawan finally won his first international title of the year with Kido at theMalaysia Grand Prix Gold. He and his partner, Kido, beatingHendra Aprida Gunawan andAlvent Yulianto in the final.[83] Setiawan and Kido competed at theBWF World Championships in Paris, and won a bronze medal after being defeated byCai Yun andFu Haifeng in the semi-finals.[84] At the Europe tour in October–November, Setiawan and Kido finished runner-up at theDenmark Open and semi-finals at theFrench Open.[85][86] In the mixed doubles with Russkikh, the duo lost in the first round in Denmark,[87] and in the quarter-finals in France.[88] Setiawan and Kido later won the gold medal in the2010 Asian Games in Guangzhou, China after beatingKoo Kien Keat andTan Boon Heong. Saving 2 match points in the second set, they won 16–21, 26–24, 21–19, winning their first Asian Games gold.[89] Setiawan and Kido ended the 2010 season as finalists in theHong Kong Open.[90] This qualified them to compete at the Super Series Finals which would be held in January 2011.[91]
In 2011, Setiawan and his partner,Markis Kido competed at the2010 BWF Super Series Finals. They were forced to withdraw from the competition after Setiawan sustained knee injuries in a group match.[92] 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 theIndonesia,Japan andDenmark Open;[93][94][95] as well as being semi-finalists in the mixed doubles at theAll England Open.[96] Setiawan and Kido then competed at theSEA Games, helping the Indonesia men's team to defend their gold medal.[97] In the men's doubles event however, Setiawan and Kido failed to defend their title, winning a silver medal after losing toMohammad Ahsan andBona Septano in the final.[98] Setiawan-Kido then closed the 2011 season ranked as world number 10.[99]
In 2012, apart from competing with Kido in the men's doubles, Setiawan also played in the mixed doubles with new partnerVita Marissa. Setiawan and Marissa started their debut in Europe tour in February–March, but gave undesiring results after losing in the early rounds at theGerman,All England andSwiss Opens.[100][101][102] His best achievements with Marissa were reaching the quarter-finals at theSingapore Open.[103] In men's doubles, Setiawan and Kido clinched the men's doubles title at theAustralia and Singapore Open.[104][105] However, they did not obtain enough points to compete at the2012 Summer Olympics in London. Setiawan then split up with Kido at the end of 2012.[106] 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.[107][108] They made their individual event debut at theDenmark Open, and finished as the semi-finalists after being defeated byShin Baek-cheol andYoo Yeon-seong of Korea.[107]
2013–2016: Second World Championships, first All England, second Asian Games and third World Championships title
In March 2014, Setiawan and Ahsan won theAll England Open after beating the Japanese pairing ofHiroyuki Endo andKenichi Hayakawa in the final. This was their first All England title for both Setiawan and Ahsan as a pair.[121] Later, they were included in the Indonesian squad at the2014 Thomas Cup in New Delhi. At the Thomas Cup, Setiawan and Ahsan won their first match against Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Yeon-seong, leading Indonesia to a 3–2 win in the quarter-finals tie against South Korea.[122] Indonesia was then defeated by Malaysia in the semi-finals.[123] Setiawan and Ahsan again lost to Lee and Yoo in the finals of theJapan andIndonesia Opens.[124][125] They then recorded their second win over the Korean pair Lee and Yoo in the men's doubles final of the2014 Asian Games, claiming Setiawan's second Asian Games gold.[126] In November, Setiawan and Ahsan won theHong Kong Open.[127] They later played at an invitational tournament, named "Glory to the King", and won the men's doubles title after beating the home pair ofBodin Isara andPakkawat Vilailak in the final.[128]
Setiawan and Ahsan won three titles in 2015, theMalaysia Open,BWF World Championships, and at theDubai World Superseries Finals. They defeated Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Yeon-seong in the final of the Malaysia Open in April.[129] At theAsian Championships, they failed to captured the title, losing to Lee and Yoo in the final in a close rubber game.[130] At theSudirman Cup, in the semi-final, Setiawan and Ahsan, defeated the four-time World ChampionsCai Yun andFu Haifeng in their opening match, but China took the next 3 matches to win 3–1 in their overall tie.[131] Setiawan and Ahsan then lost in the semi-finals of theIndonesia andChinese Taipei Opens. The duo then won their second World Championships title as a pair (third for Setiawan), after winning the2015 BWF World Championships in their home country. They defeated Lee and Yoo in straight games in the semi-finals and in the final, they defeated the Chinese pair ofLiu Xiaolong andQiu Zihan 21–17, 21–14.[132] After the World Championships, they were unable to win a title for the rest for the year, with their best results being semi-finalists at theFrench Open andHong Kong Open.[133][134] Setiawan and Ahsan won their second season-ending title at the Dubai World Superseries Finals after defeatingChai Biao andHong Wei in the final.[135]
Setiawan opened the 2016 season by winning theThailand Masters withMohammad Ahsan.[136] He played at theAsia Team Championships, and led the Indonesia team to the finals. In the finals, Indonesia won the title after beating Japan in the final.[137] Later, Setiawan and Ahsan competed at theThomas Cup, and the team finished runner-up to Denmark.[138] In August, Setiawan made his second appearance at the Olympic Games by competing inRio 2016. Partnering with Ahsan as the second seed, the duo were eliminated in the group stage.[139] While competing in 2016 with Ahsan, the pair's performance showed a decline compared to previous years, resulting in theBadminton Association of Indonesia deciding to split up the pair in the end of the 2016 season, each of them focusing on their individual careers with different partners. Setiawan tried to pair up withRian Agung Saputro andBerry Angriawan, but the pairs did not perform up to standard and failed to deliver results. On 14 November, Setiawan announced his retirement from the national team, and left the team on 1 December.[140]
After leaving the national team and playing as an independent player, he partnered up with his former rival,Tan Boon Heong, from Malaysia in 2017.[141] They reached a career-high-rank of 20th on 30 November 2017. The only final the duo made was in theAustralian Open, where they lost toTakeshi Kamura andKeigo Sonoda of Japan, 17–21, 19–21.[142] They split up after Setiawan was denied byPBSI of playing together with Tan in the2018 World Championships.[143]
2018–2019: Regrouping with Ahsan; second All England title and fourth World Championships title
In 2018, Setiawan rejoined the Indonesia national training squad as an internship player.[144] He first paired withRian Agung Saputro to compete at theIndonesia Masters, but the duo were defeated by their compatriotsMarcus Fernaldi Gideon andKevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in the second round.[145] Setiawan and Saputro also played at the2018 Asia Team Championships, where Indonesia thrashed China 3–1 to retain the title.[146] Later in February, Setiawan reunited withMohammad Ahsan and played at theIndia Open,[147] and they were beaten again by Gideon and Sukamuljo in the semi-finals.[148] To collect BWF ranking points, Setiawan and Ahsan participated at the lower-gradedMalaysia International Challenge, and emerged victorious after defeating the home pair ofAaron Chia andSoh Wooi Yik in the final.[149] At the2018 Thomas Cup, the Indonesia men's team failed to win the title after losing out to China 1–3 in the semi-finals.[150] In July, Setiawan and Ahsan won theSingapore Open by beatingOu Xuanyi andRen Xiangyu of China in the finals.[151] In the rest of 2018 tournaments, Setiawan and Ahsan best results were being semi-finalists in theDenmark,Fuzhou China, and theHong Kong Opens. The duo qualified to compete at theWorld Tour Finals, but at that tournament, they were eliminated in the group stage.[152] He and his partner ended the 2018 season ranked as world number 9.[153]
Setiawan and Ahsan were one of the most dominant pairs in the 2019 season, where they entered 11 finals and became the first men's doubles pair to win 3 major titles in a year.[154] Their achievements started at theIndonesia Masters, when the duo finished runner-up to their junior compatriots Gideon and Sukamuljo.[155] The first victory came at theAll England Open, when they defeated Malaysia's Aaron Chia and Soh Wooi Yik in the final. This was their second All England title as a pair.[156] They then lost in the finals of theSingapore Open toTakeshi Kamura andKeigo Sonoda of Japan.[157] Setiawan and Ahsan captured their second World Tour title of the year at theNew Zealand Open when they beat Japanese pairing ofHiroyuki Endo andYuta Watanabe in the final in a close rubber game.[158] Setiawan also participated in his fifthSudirman Cup, and took the bronze medal after Indonesia being defeated by Japan in the semi-finals.[159] In July, they reached two finals, theIndonesia Open andJapan Open, both being runner-ups after losing to Gideon and Sukamuljo in both tournaments.[160][161] In late August, Setiawan captured his fourthWorld Championships title. He and Ahsan defeated the up-and-coming Japanese duoTakuro Hoki andYugo Kobayashi in the final. The final was held on Setiawan's birthday, making him the oldest player to have won a World Championships title at the age of 35 years and 0 days.[2] These results also took them to move up to second place in the BWF rankings.[162] Later in the final of theChina andDenmark Opens, they became runner-ups again after losing to Gideon and Sukamuljo.[163][164] Setiawan and Ahsan have never won a match against Gideon and Sukamuljo in the last 5 meetings in 2019.[164] In the final of theHong Kong Open, they lost to the Korean pair ofChoi Sol-gyu andSeo Seung-jae.[165] At the end of the year, Setiawan and Ahsan defeated Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe, 24–22, 21–19 in straight games to win theBWF World Tour Finals.[166]
Setiawan and his partner,Mohammad Ahsan opened the 2020 season as semi-finalists in theMalaysia Masters.[167] They then reached the finals of theIndonesia Masters, but still were unable to overcome Gideon and Sukamuljo and lost in straight games.[168] At theAll England Open, the duo were unable to defend the title after losing in the quarter-finals to Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe.[169] In January 2021, Setiawan and Ahsan competed at the 2020 Asian Leg tournament held in Thailand. They first reached the quarter-finals in theYonex Thailand Open,[170] and then finished as semi-finalists in theToyota Thailand Open.[171] The duo qualified to play at theBWF World Tour Finals, and reached the final after being able to avenge the defeat to the Korean pairChoi Sol-gyu andSeo Seung-jae from the Yonex Thailand Open,[172] but lost the finals to the Chinese Taipei pairLee Yang andWang Chi-lin who previously beat them at the Toyota Thailand Open.[173] In July 2021, Setiawan made his third appearance at the Summer Olympics, atTokyo 2020. Competing withMohammad Ahsan as the 2nd seeds, he finished fourth after being defeated by Malaysia'sAaron Chia andSoh Wooi Yik in the bronze medal match.[174] In October, atAarhus, Denmark, Setiawan finally added the Thomas Cup to his grand list of achievements, where the Indonesian team beat China in the final 3–0, claiming Indonesia's first title in 19 years.[175] Their best results in the rest of 2021 season were reaching the quarter-finals in theFrench Open and theHylo Open.[176][177]
With the Indonesian federation skipping theGerman Open, Setiawan resumed competition at theAll England in March. He and Setiawan lost their two consecutive All England final in an all-Indonesian final against 1st seedFajar Alfian andMuhammad Rian Ardianto.[187]
In May, Setiawan competed in the second Asian Tour at theMalaysia Masters. Unfortunately, he lost in the quarter-finals from eventual finalist Malaysian youngsterMan Wei Chong andTee Kai Wun.[189]
In July, Setiawan competed at theCanada Open, but lost in the quarter-finals from 5th seed Chinese Taipei pairLee Yang andWang Chi-lin.[192] In the East Asian Tour, he competed at theJapan Open, but lost in the quarter-finals against 1st seed fellow Indonesian pair Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto for second times this year.[193]
In early August, Setiawan competed at theAustralian Open, but had to lose in the second round from Taiwanese pairLu Ching-yao andYang Po-han in straight games.[194] In late August, he competed at theWorld Championships, but lost in the quarter-finals round from 9th seed Korean pair Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae in straight games.[195]
Setiawan has two older sisters Silvia Anggraeni and Ivone Anggraeni.[11] Silvia Anggraeni, a former ladies singles player herself until 1995,[196] married to a former Indonesian badminton playerHendrawan.[197]
Setiawan married Sandiani Arief on 9 October 2011, and the ceremony was held at theJW Marriott Jakarta.[198] His wife gave birth to twin babies on 19 February 2014 and another baby boy on 26 July 2017.[199]
Setiawan also has a personal YouTube channel, where he uploads vlogs with fellow Indonesian players on the World Tour and family vlogs with his wife and kids. His channel has 223,000 subscribers as of January 2025.[200]
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[214] is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by theBadminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300, and the BWF Tour Super 100.[215]
The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007,[217] was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by theBadminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels wereSuperseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consisted of twelve tournaments around the world that had been introduced since 2011.[218] Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year.
The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, theGrand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by theBadminton World Federation (BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017. The World Badminton Grand Prix was sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation from 1983 to 2006.
^The head-to-head record between Setiawan and Kido against Koo and Tan after the 2007 Denmark Open is actually 0–5 if the2006 Asian Games results are entered by the BWF.[42][43][44]
^The head-to-head record between Setiawan and Kido against Cai and Fu is actually 4–6. Tournament software did not included 2006 China Open results for head-to-head.[30]
^The head-to-head record between Setiawan and Kido against Eriksen and Lundgaard Hansen is actually 5–1. Tournament software did not included 2006 China Open results for head-to-head.[231]
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