Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (born 9 March 1991) is an Indonesian formerbadminton player who was ranked world No. 1 in the men's doubles by theBadminton World Federation alongsideKevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo. He plays for PB Jaya Raya, and has been a member of the club since June 2018.[4] He and Sukamuljo were recognized as one of the most outstanding players, and awarded as the BWF Best Male Players of the Year for two years in a row after collecting sevenSuperseries titles in2017 and eightWorld Tour titles in2018, including two back-to-backAll England Open titles.[5][6][7]
Gideon and Sukamuljo are often referred to as "the Minions" because of their below average height and for their fast and agile playing style, jumping and bouncing just like theMinions in the filmDespicable Me.Gillian Clark, a BWF commentator, stated that the fast play shown by Gideon and Sukamuljo have taken the men's doubles game to a new level and makes the matches more exciting to watch.
Gideon started his career in badminton at the Tangkas Jakarta club when he was 9 years old. At the age of 13, he began playing professionally, and at the same time, he received a scholarship in Singapore. Four months later in Singapore, he returned to Indonesia because of illness, and decided not to continue his education abroad. He was again trained by his father, as a singles and doubles player.[8] Gideon won his first international title in the men's singles discipline at the Victorian International a Future Series event.[9]
2010–2014: Independent player, first Superseries title
Seeing his achievements withMarkis Kido, Gideon was invited by PBSI to rejoin the national team.[10] In early 2015, head coach of the Indonesia national men's doubles juniors,Chafidz Yusuf, paired Gideon withKevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, becauseSelvanus Geh had to resign from the national team due to illness.[18][19][20] The new partnership opened the season in Europe playing at theAll England andSwiss Open. In England they reached the quarter-finals before falling to the Danish pairMads Conrad-Petersen andMads Pieler Kolding.[21] In Switzerland, he and Sukamuljo were stopped in the semi-finals by the Malaysian pairGoh V Shem andTan Wee Kiong.[22] Gideon then took part in theSudirman Cup held in Dongguan, China, where Indonesia settled for a bronze medal.[23][24] At the JuneSEA Games in Singapore, he helped his team win the gold medal,[25] and in the individual men's doubles event, he and Sukamuljo captured the silver medal.[26]
In July, Gideon and Sukamuljo competing as an unseeded pair in theChinese Taipei Open, and the duo reached the final by defeating then World ChampionsMohammad Ahsan andHendra Setiawan,[27] but they failed to take the title, losing the final tamely toFu Haifeng andZhang Nan.[28] After this tournament, Indonesian badminton fans dub them as "the Minions" because of their below average height and for their fast and agile playing style, jumping and bouncing just like theMinions in the filmDespicable Me.[29][30] The former badminton player who is currently a BWF commentator,Gillian Clark, also highlighted that the fast play shown by Gideon and Sukamuljo have taken the men's doubles game to a new level and makes the matches exciting to watch.[31] In the next tournament, the duo then reached the semi-finals of theVietnam andThailand Opens before capturing their first title together at theChinese Taipei Masters in October where they beat Malaysia'Hoon Thien How andLim Khim Wah in the finals.[32] In theHong Kong Open, Gideon and Sukamuljo beat the World Championship silver medalistsLiu Xiaolong andQiu Zihan before losing to top seededed South KoreansLee Yong-dae andYoo Yeon-seong in the quarter-finals.[33] In December, they were stopped in the quarter-finals of theIndonesia Masters by second seedsChai Biao andHong Wei in three games.[34] They ended the 2015 season ranked 16th in the world.[35]
Gideon and Sukamuljo started their 2016 tour by winning theMalaysia Masters in January.[36] Their performance continued to improve and they won theSuperseries title inIndia andAustralia, followed by the Superseries Premier title inChina.[37][38][39][40] In May, Gideon participated in theThomas Cup held in Kunshan, China, but he failed to contribute points to the Indonesian team during the Thomas Cup Group B tie against Thailand.[41] and was not selected to play in the knockout stage of the tournament between qualifying teams. Here Indonesia won the silver medal, losing the final 2 matches to 3 against Denmark.[42] At the end of 2016, he and Sukamuljo reached the top 10 world ranking, and qualified to compete at theBWF Superseries Finals held in Dubai. The duo failed to advance to the knock out stage after standing in the third position in the group stage, having won a match against their compatriotsAngga Pratama andRicky Karanda Suwardi, and losing two matches to Danish and Japanese pairs.[43] Nevertheless, at year's end Gideon and Sukamuljo occupied the number 2 position in theworld rankings.[44]
Now competing only in the world's biggest events, Gideon and Sukamuljo began the 2017 by making up for their 2016 first round defeat with a tournament victory at the covetedAll England Open in March,[45][46] thus earning anumber one men's doubles world ranking.[47] They then secured their second consecutiveIndia Open title,[48] and after that won theMalaysia Open.[49] Their remarkable winning run was then stopped by Danish veteransMathias Boe andCarsten Mogensen in the semi-finals of theSingapore Open.[50] In May, they played for Indonesia at theSudirman Cup held in Australia. In group round robin play they won their country's only point in its surprising loss to India[51] but in group play against Denmark they again lost to Boe and Mogensen, as Indonesia, for the first time in the Cup's 28-year history, was eliminated in the group stage of the competition.[52] In June the duo was upset by another Danish pair,Kim Astrup andAnders Skaarup Rasmussen, in the first round ofIndonesia Open.[53]
In August, Gideon and Sukamuljo went to theWorld Championships held in Glasgow, Scotland, as third seeds, but lost in the quarter-finals to China'sChai Biao andHong Wei in three close games.[54] In September they reached the final of theKorea Open but were again beaten by Boe and Morgensen,[55] however, one week later they exacted a measure of revenge against the Danes in the semi-finals ofJapan Open, then went on to win the tournament by defeating the host pair ofTakuto Inoue andYuki Kaneko.[56] In October, Gideon and Sukamuljo lost the final of theDenmark Open in a tight match to reigning World ChampionLiu Cheng andZhang Nan. Citing an arm injury suffered during their semi-final match in Denmark, Gideon withdrew from the next Superseries tournament inFrance.[57] Back together in November, Gideon and Sukamuljo improved their head-to-head record against Boe and Mogensen to 3–4, after defeating them in the finals and securing their secondChina Open title.[58] They won theHong Kong Open a week later, their sixthSuperseries victory of the season, thus equaling the previous men's doubles record of six set by South KoreansLee Yong-dae andYoo Yeon-seong in 2015.[59] For their achievements Sukamuljo and Gideon were named Best Male Players of the Year by the Badminton World Federation.[60] The duo then closed out the year by capturing theDubai World Superseries Finals, making them the first men's doubles pair to win seven Superseries titles in a year.[61]
Gideon competed at the2018 Asian Games, won a silver in theteam events, and then captured the men's doubles gold medal, after he and his partner, Sukamuljo, beat their compatriotsFajar Alfian andMuhammad Rian Ardianto in close rubber games in the final.[69][70] In September, Gideon and Sukamuljo retained theirJapan Open title, defeating the reigning World ChampionsLi Junhui andLiu Yuchen.[71] A week later, they finished as semi-finalists inChina Open, lost toHan Chengkai andZhou Haodong of China.[72] On the Europe tour in October, they clinched theDenmark Open title.[73] But inFrance, they again defeated by Han and Zhou in the final, made their head-to-head record deficit to 1–2.[74] In November, the duo won theFuzhou China Open andHong Kong Open.[75][76] After the victory they achieved in Hong Kong, Gideon and Sukamuljo managed to set a record as the first ever men's doubles pair to win eight world tour titles in a season.[77] At the2018 BWF World Tour Finals gala dinner, the duo then awarded as the BWF Best Male Players of the Year for two consecutive year.[78] As the defending champions of the World Tour Finals, they had to withdraw from the competition before their last group match, due to the neck injury suffered by Gideon.[79]
Gideon opened the season in January by winning his secondMalaysia Masters and thirdIndonesia Masters titles. Gideon and Sukamuljo reached his record 20th titles at the Superseries/Super 500 above tournaments.[80][81] They then played at theAsian Championships held in Wuhan, China as first seed, and proceeded to the final, but inflicted a crushing defeat by number 5 seedHiroyuki Endo andYuta Watanabe.[82] Gideon then played with Indonesia mixed team at theNanning Sudirman Cup, where he and his partner, Sukamuljo, have never lost in their three matches against England, Chinese Taipei and Japan, but the team ended their journey in the competition after lost 1–3 in the semi-finals tie against Japan.[83] In the second half of the 2019 season, Gideon and Sukamuljo won theIndonesia andJapan Opens in July;[84][85]China Open in September;[86]Denmark andFrench Opens in October;[87][88] and also theFuzhou China Open in November.[89] Gideon and Sukamuljo were nominated for the Best Male Player award, but failed to retain the award after being defeated byKento Momota.[90] They entered theWorld Tour Finals as the first seed.[91] In the group stage, they beatLi Junhui andLiu Yuchen, lost to Endo and Watanabe, and then in the last match, they won againstTakeshi Kamura andKeigo Sonoda, progressed to the next round as group runners-up. In the semi-final, they again defeated by the Japanese pair Endo and Watanabe, made their head-to-head record deficit to 2–5.[92][93] Gideon ended the 2019 season by winning eight World Tour titles, including three in a row at Denmark, France and China.[92][91]
2020–2021: The Thomas Cup: World men's team champions
Gideon and his partner, Sukamuljo started the 2020 season by playing in theMalaysia Masters. However, they finished in the quarter-finals after losing toFajar Alfian andMuhammad Rian Ardianto in a close rubber game.[94] Gideon later won his fourthIndonesia Masters title (third with Sukamuljo) by defeatingMohammad Ahsan andHendra Setiawan in straight games in the final.[95] In February, he alongside Indonesia men's team won theAsia Team Championships held in Manila.[96] In March, they played at theAll England Open. The duo failed to win the title after lost toHiroyuki Endo andYuta Watanabe in the final. This was their sixth loss in a row over Endo and Watanabe.[97] Due to theCOVID-19 pandemic, numerous tournaments on the2020 BWF World Tour were either cancelled or rescheduled for later in the year. Gideon and Sukamuljo planned to return in the international competitions at the 2020 Asian Leg tournament in January 2021, but then they had to withdraw from the competition after his partner, Sukamuljo, tested positive forCOVID-19 in December 2020.[98]
Gideon made his comeback at theAll England Open in March 2021. He and Sukamuljo had played in the first round by beating the host pairMatthew Clare andEthan van Leeuwen in a rubber game, but later Indonesia team were forced to withdraw from the competition by BWF after the team members will self-isolate for 10 days from the date of their inbound flight after an anonym person traveling onboard tested positive for COVID-19.[99] In July 2021, Gideon competed at the2020 Summer Olympics partnering Sukamuljo as first seed. The duo led the group standings after won two matches and lost a match.[100] Gideon and Sukamuljo were eliminated from the competition by Malaysian pairAaron Chia andSoh Wooi Yik in the quarter-finals.[101]
In September–October, Gideon alongside Indonesia team competed at the2021 Sudirman Cup in Vantaa, Finland. The team advanced to the knocked-out stage, but stopped in the quarter-finals to Malaysia.[102] In the next tournament in Aarhus, Denmark, he helped Indonesia team reached the final of the World Men's Team Championships, and the team won the2020 Thomas Cup.[103] In the next tournament, Gideon and Sukamuljo played at the BWF World Tour inDenmark,French, andHylo Opens.[104][105] The duo ended the tour by winning the Hylo Open.[105] At the Indonesia badminton festival, they finished as runner-up in theIndonesia Masters and triumph in theIndonesia Open.[106] This was their three successive victory at the Indonesia Open following on from success in 2018 and 2019.[107] Their achievements in 2021, lead them as the first seed in theBWF World Tour Finals.[108] The duo reached the final, but lost a well contested match to Japan'sTakuro Hoki andYugo Kobayashi in a close rubber games.[109]
In 2022, Gideon and his partner, Sukamuljo, started the BWF tour in theAll England Open. Unfortunately, they were stopped in the semi-finals by the young compatriot, the eventual champions,Muhammad Shohibul Fikri andBagas Maulana.[110] In April, Gideon flew toPorto, Portugal underwent surgery to remove pieces of bone on his ankles performed by surgeonNiek van Dijk.[111] Even though he has not fully recovered, Gideon returned to the tournament court in June, to compete in theIndonesia Masters andOpen. At that tournament, Gideon and Sukamuljo finished as semi-finalists in the Indonesia Masters, and stopped in the second round in the Indonesia Open.[112][113] They then stepped on podium in October as runner-up of theDenmark Open, losing the final toFajar Alfian andMuhammad Rian Ardianto.[114]
Gideon and his partner, Sukamuljo, started the BWF tour in theMalaysia Open, but were stopped in the second round by a Chinese pair,Liang Weikeng andWang Chang.[115] In the next tournament, they lost again to Liang and Wang in the quarter-finals of theIndia Open.[116] They competed at the home tournament,Indonesia Masters, but retired in the second round from Chinese pairLiu Yuchen andOu Xuanyi following the injury of Gideon.[117]
In May, Gideon alongside the Indonesian team competed at the2023 Sudirman Cup inSuzhou, China. He won a match in the group stage, againstKevin Lee andTy Alexander Lindeman of Canada. Indonesia advanced to the knockout stage but lost at the quarter-finals against China.[118] In the following week, Gideon and his partner, Sukamuljo, competed in theMalaysia Masters, but lost in the second round to the 4th seedsTakuro Hoki andYugo Kobayashi in straight games.[119] In the next tour, they competed at theThailand Open, but lost in the semi-finals to the 3rd seeds and eventual winnersLiang Weikeng andWang Chang in straight games.[120] In June, Gideon competed at theSingapore Open, but lost in the second round to the 4th seeded Japanese pairTakuro Hoki andYugo Kobayashi in straight games.[121]
Following the Singapore Open, Gideon and Sukamuljo's partnership was split after eight years together, with Sukamuljo partnering withRahmat Hidayat as Gideon was forced to suspend competition for surgery on his right leg.[122]
On 9 March 2024, on his thirty-third birthday, Gideon officially announced his retirement from professional badminton, citing a desire to spend time with his family and coach alongside his father.[123]
Gideon is the son of former national badminton player, Kurniahu, who serves as a coach at Marcus' namesake badminton academy in Ciangsana,Bogor Regency.[124] He married ageneral practitioner, Agnes Amelinda Mulyadi on 14 April 2018.[125] His first son Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Jr. was born in January 2019.[126]
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018,[138] 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 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.[139]
The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007,[140] 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.[141] Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year.
^Sukumar, Dev (10 January 2018)."Action-Packed Season Ahead!". Badminton World Federation.Archived from the original on 13 January 2018. Retrieved15 January 2018.
Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo
Gold
Hiroyuki Endo
Silver
Li Junhui
Winner
Kim Astrup
Runner-up
Ong Yew Sin
Satwiksairaj Rankireddy
Ko Sung-hyun
Joe Wu
Gabriela Stoeva
Jones Ralfy Jansen
Riky Widianto
