Indonesia's Moses/Reya Give Indonesia Early World-Level Benchmark

RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Indonesia gained an early benchmark of its junior badminton competitiveness at the 2026 BWF World Junior Team Championships as mixed doubles pair Moses Andar Simanjuntak/Reya Azzahra Yulianti helped the team open its campaign with a 2-0 victory over Azerbaijan in Cairo, Egypt, on Monday, October 5.

Moses/Reya were trusted to open Indonesia's Group C2 campaign at Cairo International Stadium, giving the pair an opportunity to assess their level against international opponents.

"Thankfully, we were given the trust to play as the opening pair. Of course, we are happy, and this result can be a reference for us to know where our level is," Moses said in a statement from the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) on Monday, as quoted by Antara.

Moses/Reya gave Indonesia an early 11-5 lead over Azerbaijan's Ulvi Huseynov/Leyla Jamalzade in the first game under the relay system.

Despite their strong start, Moses said he still needed to adjust to conditions at the venue, particularly the lighting and characteristics of the shuttlecock.

He added that the relatively large playing area was another factor that Indonesian players needed to adapt to quickly to perform at their best in subsequent matches. "However, this is not a major obstacle, and we can still overcome it," he said.

Reya said she experienced no significant technical difficulties during the opening match. She said maintaining focus and their playing pattern would be important as Indonesia faces opponents of increasingly higher levels.

"Technically, thankfully, there were no problems. Hopefully, going forward, we can stay focused and continue playing like we did today," Reya said.

Moses said the atmosphere of the World Junior Championships required every player to maintain concentration from the beginning of each match. He said the victory over Azerbaijan provided an important starting point, but Indonesia still needs to improve its performance for the next matches.

"The important point for us is to maintain the match atmosphere because this is the world level. So we have to stay focused and perform at our best day by day," Moses concluded.

Indonesia opened its Suhandinata Cup campaign with a 2-0 victory over Azerbaijan after winning the two relay games 55-25 and 55-11. ***