Indonesia Eliminated in the 2026 Thomas Cup Group Stage, First in History
JAKARTA - Indonesia for the first time in history failed to advance to the knockout round of the Thomas Cup after losing the last match of the group stage against France in the organization of this year's edition.
Jonatan Christie and his friends failed to qualify from Group D after losing 1-4 at the Forum Horsens on Wednesday, April 29, 2026, early morning WIB. The defeat made Indonesia finish in third place in the final group standings, a place that did not qualify for the quarter finals.
Indonesia's only point in the match was contributed by the men's doubles Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri. The pair managed to beat Christo Popov/Toma Junior Popov in the rubber game 21-18, 19-21, and 21-11.
Indonesia actually lowered the best strength in this match. The other four representatives who are trusted to face France are Jonatan Christie, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, Alwi Farhan, and Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Mohammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani.
However, only Ginting was able to provide resistance in three games before losing to Toma Junior Popov with a score of 22-20, 15-21, and 20-22. The rest, the other three representatives were forced to finish the match in two straight games.
Jonatan lost with a score of 19-21 and 14-21 against Christo Popov, Alwi Farhan had to admit Alex Lanier's advantage with a score of 16-21 and 19-21, and Sabar/Reza suffered a defeat of 19-21 and 19-21 against the pair Eloi Adam/Leo Rossi.
This victory makes France entitled to a ticket to the quarter-finals with the status of runner-up. They accompanied Thailand who in the last match managed to beat Algeria with a score of 5-0 to become group champions.
The Indonesian men's team is actually one step closer to the quarterfinals after winning the previous two matches. The requirement to lock in a ticket is very easy, namely losing three points in the match against France or losing 2-3.
The return in the group stage has never been experienced by the Indonesian men's doubles badminton team at this event. The worst journey was being eliminated in the quarterfinals in the 2012 edition which took place in Wuhan, China.
This result is clearly very far from the target of reaching the final round set by the Central Management of the Indonesian Badminton Association (PP PBSI). Indonesia has always reached the final in the previous three editions, which have yielded one title.
The journey of the men's team is different from the women's team at the Uber Cup. Kusuma Wardani's daughter and her friends managed to pass the preliminary round with the status as group champions after successfully stopping China Taipei in the last match.