In the final of the men's team badminton tournament at the 2026 Asian Games, Indonesia came back from 0:2 down to beat China 3:2. The victory, secured on 24 September in Ichinomiya, ended a 28-year wait for gold — the last success having come in Bangkok in 1998.
China started confidently: Shi Yuqi got the better of Jonathan Christie, and the pair Liang Weikeng — Wang Chang overcame Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri. The 2:0 scoreline had many already preparing congratulations for the defending champions, who were chasing a third consecutive title.
The turning point came in the third match. Alwi Farhan, in an exhausting three-game battle, overcame Li Shifeng — 23:21, 15:21, 21:16. That win did not merely narrow the gap; it restored the Indonesians' belief in their own strength and showed how quickly a team's psychology can change when one player refuses to give in.
Then the pair Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin levelled the score, beating He Jiting and Liu Yi. Everything was decided in the fifth, decisive match: 19-year-old Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah (Ubed) against Weng Hongyang. The young Indonesian saved four game points in the first game and confidently closed out the second — 23:21, 21:13.
This victory is not merely the result of a match. It demonstrates how in a team sport one young athlete, free of the pressure of past defeats, can turn the course of an entire tournament. The analogy is simple: just as in chess one precise move in the endgame changes the whole game, so here the decisive match became a catalyst for the entire team.
For Indonesia, where badminton is a national passion, the gold means not only a medal but also confirmation that the generational change is working. China, meanwhile, must now reconsider its approach to preparation, for even dominance in individual disciplines does not guarantee team success.
Ubaidillah's victory shows that in elite sport the decisive factor is often not experience but the ability to keep a cool head at the moment when everything is at stake.
