PBSI Targets One Title at the 2026 Indonesia Masters

JAKARTA - The Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) is aiming to secure one title from the 2026 Daihatsu Indonesia Masters after last year's host representatives all returned empty-handed.

Head of Training and Achievement (Kabid Binpres) of the Indonesian Badminton Association, Eng Hian, said that the biggest opportunity for Indonesia is in the men's doubles sector because of performance, squad depth, and stability.

"One of our priority targets is the Indonesia Masters because we are the hosts. We want to go all out to get the title. Two silver targets are not enough, at least one title here," said Eng Hian in a press conference in Jakarta.

In order to secure the title at home, PBSI also arranged a special strategy related to the delivery of athletes for the two previous tournaments earlier this year, consecutively at the Malaysia Open (Super 1000) and the India Open (Super 750).

The national badminton parent decided to send only nine representatives to Malaysia and then only four in India, all of which ended without a title. The best achievement was actually achieved by non-Pelatnas PBSI athlete Jonatan Christie, who became runner-up in New Delhi.

Eng Hian said that not all the main players were sent down in the opening tournament so that their physical and mental conditions could reach their peak (peak performance) when competing in front of their own public.

"Why not send everyone in the early tournament? Because let's peak performance here (Indonesia Masters). We want to focus on the host tournament. There are pluses and minuses. We focus on managing the performance of the players here," he said.

The Indonesia Masters 2026 will take place on January 20-25 at Istora Senayan, Jakarta. Indonesia will send 25 representatives plus Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja who will play in mixed doubles with Singapore representative Hee Kai Terry.