Indonesia Moves Closer to Badminton Gold as Leo/Daniel Reach Final

The Indonesian duo secured their place in the final with a convincing 21-11, 21-14 victory over South Korea’s Kim Won Ho and Seo Seung Jae in the semifinals at Ichinomiya City Municipal Gymnasium in Ichinomiya, Aichi, Japan, on Monday, September 28, 2026. “We played quite well today, and the key was maintaining communication and staying alert to our opponents’ patterns,” Daniel said after the match, as quoted by Antara.

The victory marked Leo and Daniel’s second consecutive win over the Korean pair, having also defeated them at the China Masters earlier this season. Leo said their latest success was built on lessons learned from previous encounters and detailed analysis of their opponents’ recent performances.

“Our result against them in China was good, and today we were able to repeat it. They also played yesterday, so we reviewed the video again. Against the Japanese pair, they looked under pressure, and we tried to take advantage of that. Thankfully, we were able to win today,” Leo explained.

With the result, Indonesia has now secured at least two places in Tuesday’s badminton finals. Earlier, mixed doubles pair Amri Syahnawi and Nita Violina Marwah also advanced to the gold-medal match after defeating Chinese opponents in the semifinals.

Leo and Daniel are now hoping another Indonesian men’s doubles pair, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, can join them in the final and set up an all-Indonesian title clash. “The most important thing is that Fajar and Fikri are still competing. Let’s hope they can follow us into the final,” Leo said.

Fajar and Fikri were scheduled to face China’s Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang in the other semifinal later on Monday. Looking ahead to the final, Leo emphasized the importance of maintaining their performance level while keeping expectations under control. “We hope to perform even better in the final, and we need to manage our expectations,” he concluded.

Indonesia could further increase its gold-medal opportunities through men’s singles player Alwi Farhan, who was also scheduled to compete in the semifinals against Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn. ***