The 2025 Kapal API Indonesia Open Kicks Off

Over the past three weeks, major badminton tournaments have taken place across Asia, with events in Chinese Taipei, Thailand, Malaysia, and Singapore. Now, the players turn their attention to the final and largest tournament before a well-earned break: the prestigious Super 1000 event, the Kapal API Indonesia Open 2025.

This tournament holds a rich history, with past winners including legends such as Lee Chong Wei, Camilla Martin, Cai Yun, Fu Haifeng, as well as Indonesian home hero Taufik Hidayat. In recent years, Viktor Axelsen has claimed the title three times in a row from 2021 to 2023. Unfortunately, due to injury, Axelsen will not be participating in this year’s edition, but Europe remains strongly represented.

In men’s singles, Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke faces a difficult opening match against Japan’s Kodai Naraoka, while Anders Antonsen will meet Chi Yu Jen from Chinese Taipei. France’s Christo Popov arrives fresh from an impressive performance in Singapore, where he reached the semifinals before narrowly losing in three sets to Lu Guang Zu from China. This week, Christo will face a familiar opponent, as he is set to play his older brother, Toma Popov. The two last met in the final of last year’s Hylo Open, where the younger brother, Christo, prevailed 21-13, 21-10. The third French men’s singles player is the young Alex Lanier, who should be well-rested after skipping the tournaments in Chinese Taipei and Malaysia. Last week, he exited in the first round in Singapore against Loh Kean Yew. This week, he will meet Weng Hong Yang from China, currently ranked number eleven in the world.

In women’s singles, Denmark’s Line Kjærsfeldt will need to perform at her absolute best to advance, as she faces Akane Yamaguchi from Japan. The two have met eight times previously, all ending in victories for Yamaguchi. Ukraine’s young Polina Buhrova also faces a tough first-round challenge against Gao Fang Jie from China. The two have never played each other before, and it will be interesting to see whether Buhrova can find answers to Gao’s typically steady game. Another exciting first-round match features Scotland’s Kirsty Gilmour against Malaysia’s Goh Jin Wei. These two have not faced each other in ten years, and both will be eager to break recent runs of early exits.

In the doubles categories, Europe is also strongly represented. In men’s doubles, the Popov brothers, Rasmus Kjær/Frederik Søgaard, Eloi Adam/Leo Rossi, Daniel Lundgaard/Mads Vestergaard, as well as Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup will all be competing. Astrup/Skaarup are coming off an impressive showing in Singapore, where they displayed some of the form that took them to the top of the world rankings earlier this year.

In women’s doubles, several European pairs will be aiming to push through to the second round, including Poland’s Paulina Hankiewicz/Kornelia Marczak, Scotland’s Julie MacPherson/Ciara Torrance, and Ukraine’s Polina Buhrova/Yevheniia Kantemyr.

In mixed doubles, former European champions Thom Gicquel/Delphine Delrue will face home favorites Rehan Kusharjanto/Gloria Widjaja. The current European champions and fifth seeds, Jesper Toft/Amalie Magelund, will meet Scotland’s Alexander Dunn/Julie MacPherson. The final European mixed pair, Mads Vestergaard/Christine Busch, will play against India’s Ashith Surya/Amrutha Pramuthesh in the opening round.

We look forward to a week of world-class badminton as the matches begin tomorrow at 9:00 AM CEST.