BWF World Tour Finals 2025: Failed to Break Bad Record, Sabar/Reza Kandas in the Semifinal

JAKARTA - The men's doubles Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani failed to break the bad record against Kim Won Ho/Seo Seung Jae's pair, which made them have to go home in the semifinals of the 2025 BWF World Tour Finals (WTF).

Sabar/Reza's attempt to win the first match against the South Korean representative ended in a crushing defeat of two straight games 9-21 and 11-21 at the Hangzhou Olympic Sports Centre Gymnasium, China, on Saturday, December 20, 2025, WIB night.

"We have tried our best. Indeed, our journey this year has been very dynamic, up and down, but we are very grateful to have been able to get through it. Hopefully all the valuable lessons this year can be a good preparation for facing 2026," said Sabar.

This is the third defeat suffered by Sabar/Reza against Kim/Seo. Two of the three defeats occurred in this tournament after they had previously surrendered two games directly when they met in the group stage.

Another defeat also occurred this year, namely in the final round of the Indonesia Open in June. At that time, Sabar/Reza was able to give a fight in the three-game match against the world number one pair.

"In the future, of course we must continue to be vigilant because in 2026 there will certainly be many young players emerging at the top level. Hopefully we can continue to maintain performance and remain consistent," said Sabar.

The failure of Sabar/Reza to reach the final round automatically made the Indonesian representative in the tournament that closes the season with a total prize of 3 million US dollars or equivalent to Rp. 50 billion exhausted.

Indonesia has a total of five representatives who have received tickets to qualify for this year's BWF World Tour Finals. However, the other four immediately returned home in the group stage.

They are men's singles Jonatan Christie, women's singles Putri Kusuma Wardani, men's doubles Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, and mixed doubles Jafar Hidayatullah/Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu.

Of the four representatives, Jonatan Christie and Fajar/Fikri did not even feel any victory from the three matches played in the group stage.