After the successful completion of the Super 750 event Singapore Open, the caravan of the BWF World Tour now moves to the neighboring country for its next extravagant event.
As it’s time for the third Super 1000 tournament of the year 2023, the prestigious Indonesia Open to take place and stage the main event of the monsoon badminton season. Where the Badminton World Federation (BWF) will be putting a whopping tally of 45,000 points in each and every category of the tournament.
The Indonesia Open was inaugurated by the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) which has hosted 41 editions of this prestigious tournament till now. It is an annual tournament that has taken place each and every year since its foundation in 1982 except the year 2020 when the Covid-19 outbreak halted the 40th season for a while. We witness the top baddies from all around the globe arriving at the Emerald of the Equator and playing their hearts out for the laurels.
Major structural changes were made in the BWF World Tour format by the governing body in 2018 thus rewarding the Indonesia Open with the status of Super 1000. It is one of the three tournaments, All England Open, China Open, and Malaysia Open which are recognized as the second-biggest events in the A-Tier hierarchy.
The sequence of this competition among other Super 1000 tournaments also makes it crucial after carrying the highest points weightage for the qualification to the BWF World Tour finals.
Dates
Indonesia Open will be kick-starting on the 13th of June 2023, while the podium finishers across all categories will be dignified on the 18th of the same month. The mega-event will be a six-day badminton saga that will be commencing just a couple of days after the final event of the Singapore Open which will be held on the 11th of June.
The tournament usually takes place in the June-July window for this mega-event as all editions since 2008 have been staged in the same period. However, it was changed in the year 2021 when the Covid-19 outbreak forced the organizers to postpone it to November instead.
Venues
Continuing forward the tradition of organizing the whole tournament at a solitary arena, the 2023 edition of the Indonesia Open will also follow the same. Hence, the entire action of the 2023 edition of this BWF World Tour event will be taking place at the Indonesian capital city, Jakarta’s Gelora Bung Karno Sports Palace. Formerly known as Istora Senayan also hosted the previous edition from 14th to 19th June 2022, marking it as the 31st season held at this venue.
The country’s major badminton tournaments such as Indonesia Open and Indonesia Masters are the permanent tenants of Gelora Bung Karno Sports Palace situated in the Gelora town of Central Jakarta. The arena has been operating since 1961 and was reopened in the year 2018 after going through a two-year renovation. It has hosted notable sporting events over the years and the most recent one was the 2022 FIBA Asia Cup.
The mega-event is bound to be a housefull show
The Badminton Association of Indonesia issued an official announcement in May 2023 that the tickets will be once again available online. The selling of tickets began on 24th May through their official website while only 10% (approximately 600) of tickets have been reserved for on-the-spot sale. Tickets are categorized into three classes, Category 2, Category 1 and VIP while the prices will be starting from Rp 1,25,000 (₹690.5).
Format Explainer
There will be five traditional categories Men’s Singles, Women’s Singles, Men’s Doubles, Women’s Doubles and Mixed Doubles in which 256 baddies will be gracing the battlefield. Each category has been allotted five knockout rounds starting from Round of 32 battlefields. The total prize money remains US$ 1,200,000 in accordance with the BWF regulations although the winners’ prize has been increased by US$ 3,500 and US$ 3,700 for Singles and Doubles respectively.
Points and Prize distribution tally:
| Points Distribution | Prize Money (Singles) | Prize Money (Doubles) | |
| Winner | 12,000 | $87,500 | $92,500 |
| Runner-up | 10,200 | $42,500 | $43,750 |
| Semi-finalist | 8,400 | $17,500 | $17,500 |
| Quarter-finalist | 6,600 | $6,875 | $7,812.5 |
| Round of 16 | 4,800 | $3,750 | $4,062.5 |
| Round of 32 | 3,000 | $1,250 | $1,250 |
All 32 individuals or double pairs of each category have been drafted into the First Round as the Top 8 seeds won’t be getting any advantage. The Indian contingent sent respective 20 and 25 players in the previous two editions however, it has been reduced to 12 this time while only HS Prannoy and pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty are among the top seeds.
Star Attractions
The reigning Singles champion Viktor Axelsen who defeated the Chinese opponent Zhao Junpeng to lift his second Indonesia Open title will be on the hunt for the third one. The 29-year-old Danish star finished as the runner-up in 2018 and has won two consecutive titles in the last two editions.
Meanwhile, the other reigning champions such as Tai tzu-Ying (Women’s Singles), Liu Yuchen/Ou Xuanyi (Men’s Doubles), Nami Matsuyama/Chihara Shida (Women’s Doubles), Zheng Siwei/Huang Yaqiong (Mixed Doubles) are also set to defend their respective titles.
Saina would be determined to replicate her prowess of gracing the champions podium
Saina Nehwal is the most successful Indian player in the history of this tournament after clinching the Women’s Singles title three times (2009, 2010, 2012) till now. The 33-year-old veteran missed the last edition owing to fitness concerns but is now ready to stage a comeback with a bang. The face of Indian badminton, PV Sindhu who was recently eliminated from the first round of the Singapore Open has also vowed to bounce back in this tournament.
On the other hand, the Indian Men’s contingent consisting of seven representatives will be participating in the Singles and Doubles categories. HS Prannoy is the biggest hope for the nation at Equatorial Emerald after being the most performing Indian player and making it to the semifinals of the Singles event previously. The 21-year-old sensation Lakshya Sen started the 2022 edition as the top seed but still couldn’t go beyond the first round and is now eying to redeem himself.