Increasingly High Quality, 518 Young Athletes Trained Thru Individual and Team Formats

The PB Djarum Partner Club Championship 2026 once again serves as a platform for nurturing young athletes with an increasingly evolving match format. A total of 518 athletes from 28 clubs, consisting of 25 PB Djarum partner clubs and three invited clubs, participated in the event held at GOR Djarum, Jati, Kudus, Central Java, from February 9 to 14, 2026.

The competition initiated by the Bakti Olahraga Djarum Foundation and PB Djarum features individual categories for U-9 and U-11 as well as team events for U-13 and U-15. Specifically for the team events, this year the match format adopts the world team championship system, namely the Thomas & Uber Cup format for U-13 and the Sudirman Cup format for U-15.

Program Director of the Djarum Foundation's Bakti Olahraga and Chairman of PB Djarum, Yoppy Rosimin, stated that the Partner Club Championship, initiated by PB Djarum in collaboration with the Djarum Foundation four years ago, serves as a platform for improving the quality of young athletes who have been nurtured by PB Djarum's partner clubs from various regions in Indonesia. Several partner clubs and invited clubs participating in this competition are PB Talenta Manado (North Sulawesi), PB Champion Makassar (South Sulawesi), PB Victory Bandung (West Java), and Hevindo Balikpapan (East Kalimantan).

"The Partner Club Championship is one of the efforts by PB Djarum and the Djarum Foundation to keep the flame of badminton spirit alive in Indonesia." With this championship, each club can measure the abilities of their athletes and together improve the quality and training so that in the end we have many capable young athletes who can continue the baton of elite badminton player regeneration in the country," said Yoppy.

He exemplified that this effort is starting to bear fruit with the success of the athletes from the PB Djarum partner club. In fact, several names have managed to break into the PBSI National Training Center. One of them is Selsi Jovika, who initially played for PB Champion Madiun. The same thing happened to Moh Zaki Ubaidillah and Richie Duta Richardo, who started their careers at PB Champion Klaten before eventually joining PB Djarum.

"Besides helping to improve the quality of athletes, the Partner Club Championship is very important for the clubs and their coaches." Generally, the coaches of partner clubs are former PB Djarum athletes, so this championship helps keep the ecosystem alive. We gather them, discuss, and map out the needs for now and the next one or two years. "So that the partner clubs also become a platform for sharing knowledge about badminton developments," Yoppy explained.

For that reason, not only does the Mitra Club Championship hold competitions in various age categories, but it also consistently includes coaching clinics and sharing sessions for coaches. This year, the material presented by Ari Subarkah, the physical coach of PB Djarum, was about improving endurance during matches.

Meanwhile, the quality of the competition has also improved in this year's championship by adopting the men's and women's singles format, men's and women's teams, and mixed teams. Sigit Budiarto, as the Chairman of the Organizing Committee, explained that the implementation of three different match systems was designed as part of the competitive learning process for young athletes who need to get used to facing match pressure from an early age.

"This year, we are using a tournament system with three categories consisting of individual male and female players, then in the U-13 category, we are using the Thomas and Uber system, and the third is a mixed team system that adopts the Sudirman Cup format for U-15." The reason we created this tournament system is so that young participants become more accustomed to the situations and pressures in each match. "Our hope is that by implementing these various championship formats, it will provide a new lesson for both coaches and young athletes to continue honing their perseverance, mentality, and competitive spirit," said Sigit.

These three match formats across various age levels received a positive response from the participating partner clubs. This is evident from the increased number of participants compared to last year, which had 439 athletes. "We are grateful for the positive response from partner clubs, which have deployed many athletes across various age groups. We hope that all the athletes involved not only gain more experience but also use this competition as a learning opportunity to enhance their skills," said the 2002 Thomas Cup winner.

Hot and Tense

Meanwhile, in the middle of the field, the prestige of winning the championship is clearly visible on the faces of the competing athletes. The shouts of the supporters intensified the tension in the battle for the highest podium. One of them occurred in the U-11 boys' singles final, which pitted Zayn Abdullah Rajendra from PB Champion Klaten against Kentaro Javas Kaivan Tsaqib (PB Champion Kebumen).

Zayn, who had previously lost to Kentaro in a different championship, performed impressively by winning the first game with a score of 21-16. However, Kentaro, who also showed a no-lose attitude, managed to take a slight lead in the second game (21-19) and forced the match to continue to the third game. The great ambition of both players to become champions created a situation of scoring back and forth. Zayn, who was trailing by four points at 11-15, managed to turn the situation around and secured the championship title with a final score of 21-18.

"I am very excited to win in the final, especially since I had previously lost to Kentaro. I also don't want to waste the opportunity to become a champion because last year I lost in the quarter-finals." I'm really happy that all the hard work in training and during the matches paid off and I became the champion at the PB Djarum Partner Club Championship 2026. In the future, I want to win more often so that I can realize my dream of playing in world-level championships," said Zayn.

A fierce battle also took place in the U-15 final match. Carrying the Sudirman Cup format, the two teams, Champion Magelang and Champion Gading Jaya, strategized to secure victory from the start. In the opening match, a tense competition occurred when the mixed doubles pair Bariq Zhafran/Zahra Tinur Aripin (Champion Magelang) faced Jonathan Samuel Daloma/Karla Nelvina Telaumbanua. Having taken the lead in the first game 21-11, Bariq/Zahra couldn't withstand the challenge from Jonathan/Karla in the next two games, 21-23, 16-21, with a total match time of 1 hour and 31 minutes.

Leading 1-0, Champion Gading Jaya doubled their victory thru men's singles Erlan Basiturrahman Mantow after defeating Raynard Foster Taygen 21-7, 21-14. The championship title belonged to Champion Gading Jaya after securing victory in the third match, which featured Allanna Campnou Djohan against Champion Magelang player, Natha Kayla Jazlyn Sugiono. In the match that lasted 25 minutes, Allanna performed dominantly with scores of 21-8, 21-6.

Jonathan and Karla, who opened the path to victory for Champion Gading Jaya, did not expect the competition for the championship title at the PB Djarum Partner Club Championship to be so fierce. He believes that the achievements in the U-15 team category, which follows the Sudirman Cup format, are the result of the hard work of the entire team.

"As the first player to compete in the U-15 mixed team final, I initially felt burdened, but after gaining the lead, I became more optimistic and was able to contribute points thru a three-game battle." Hopefully, this success can serve as motivation for me and my fellow club members to achieve even more success in the future," said Jonathan.

"The PB Djarum Partner Club Championship 2026 is very memorable for me because it's the first time I participated in the team category and immediately became the champion." I really didn't expect we could succeed considering the opponents were also very good. "This is a shared victory thanks to the hard work of the coach and friends at PB Gading Jaya," Karla added.

On the other hand, the doubles coach from PB Gading Jaya, Daniel Bagas Irawan, also did not expect his team to emerge as champions considering there were several technical and non-technical preparation hurdles before competing in the PB Djarum Club Partner Championship 2026. He is proud of the struggle shown by his players, who never give up when performing on the court.

"Honestly, at first I didn't have much hope because some players were not in good health before the championship, but they insisted on continuing to play." I am very proud because they have a great spirit to become champions. In addition, the success of leading the club to victory is my first achievement as a coach at PB Gading Jaya. I hope this championship can continue to be held because, beside adding flight hours for young athletes, we as coaches can also bring home valuable knowledge from the coaching clinic sessions," said Bagas.

List of winners of the PB Djarum Partner Club Championship 2026

Individual Category

U-9 Boys

Champion I: Ray Kalandra Al Kahfi (Champion Kudus)
Champion II: Yusuf Al Ghifari Prasetia (Champion Madiun)
Champion III: Azka Aldric Arrasyid (Victory Bandung) & Alfarizy Shagufta Mekka Heryanto (PMS Solo)

U-9 Girls
Champion I: Almeera Nafisha Shareen (Champion Madiun)
Champion II: Asha Adiba Zada (Champion Jepara)
Champion III: Inara Kania Aulia Mufida (Arista Semarang) & Gendhis Maheswari (Panorama Solo)

U-11 Boys
Champion I: Zayn Abdullah Rajendra (Champion Klaten)
Champion II: Kentaro Javas Kaivan Tsaqib (PB Champion Kebumen)
Champion III: Ibrahim Yuki Suwandi Yamamoto (Champion Klaten) & Kenzou Leonardo Wijaya (Champion Kudus)

U-11 Girls
Champion I: Ailsie Elaina Sembiring (Champion Kudus)
Champion II: Aqila Zyan Noufalin (Arista Semarang)
Champion III: Satmika Cinta (Champion Klaten) & Biancha Ramadhani Zhafira Wardoyo (Champion Madiun)

U-13 Boys Team Category

Champion I: Champion Klaten A
Champion II: Champion Jepara
Champion III: PMS Solo & Champion Kudus A

U-13 Girls Team Category

1st Place: Champion Klaten
2nd Place: Arista Semarang
3rd Place: Champion Kebumen & Kayp1 Champion Academy

Mixed Doubles U-15 Category

First Place: Champion Gading Jaya
Second Place: Champion Magelang
Third Place: Champion Klaten & Champion Jepara