Indonesia badminton mixed doubles turmoil

In late July 2026 Indonesia’s badminton programme faced a series of setbacks in the mixed‑doubles discipline. On 30 July, the mixed‑doubles pair Jafar Hidayatullah and Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu withdrew from the upcoming BWF World Championships in New Delhi, and a standby pair also declined promotion. At the same time, Nova Widianto announced he would leave his role as Malaysia’s mixed‑doubles head coach at the end of July to take over the mixed‑doubles programme of the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) from August.

The following day, PBSI’s vice‑chairman Taufik Hidayat confirmed that the federation had recently dismissed head coach Rionny Mainaky and assistant Amon Sunaryo as part of a broader coaching overhaul. PBSI said a new mixed‑doubles head coach would be named within a week, with candidates including both Indonesian and foreign coaches, in order to restore competitiveness after the recent player withdrawal and coaching changes.