Mohammad Ahsan (born 7 September 1987) is an Indonesian retired badminton player affiliated with Djarum club who specializes in the men's doubles. He is a three-time World Champion, three-time season ending finals champion, and Asian Games gold medalist.
Joining the Djarum club since 2007, opened Ahsan's opportunity to join the Indonesian national team until he finally implemented it in the middle of 2008. Paired with Bona Septano, they managed to win the bronze medal at the 2011 BWF World Championships, and were ranked as high as sixth in the BWF World Rankings. Ahsan broke the world's men's doubles stage when he teamed-up with Hendra Setiawan. Ahsan and Setiawan partnership have collected 3 gold and 1 silver medals at the World Championships, a men's doubles gold in the Asian and SEA Games, and also three titles in the season ending finals. They reached a career high as world number 1.
There are several names, who have also paired with Ahsan such as Alvent Yulianto, where they won a bronze medal in the 2010 Asian Games; and winning a silver medal at the 2017 BWF World Championships with Rian Agung Saputro. As a member of the Indonesian national team, Ahsan also contributed to winning the men's team title at the SEA Games in 2009 and 2011; three consecutive Asia Team Championships title in 2016, 2018 and 2020; and also in the major international event, the Thomas Cup in 2020.
Early life Mohammad Ahsan was born in Palembang, South Sumatera to Tumin Atmadi dan Siti Rohanah. He is the youngest of three siblings. Ahsan started playing badminton at aged 5, trained at the Pusri club. After graduating from middle school, he moved to Jakarta for better training and a chance to develop his career as a badminton player. In 2001, he was selected to join the Ragunan sports school. Due to the change in the program at the school which will only focus on female athletes, Ahsan then decides to join the Bina Bangsa club.
Career
2005–2007: Career beginnings In the junior event, Mohammad Ahsan played at the 2005 Asian Junior Championships and won the bronze medals in the boys' team and doubles.
Ahsan became a member of Djarum club since 2007. In April, Ahsan made his debut at the Asian Championships held in Johor Bahru, Malaysia. Unfortunately, he and his partner, Bona Septano, were defeated in the early rounds. They later reached three consecutive finals in the Smiling Fish Thailand, Vietnam and Cheers Asian Singapore Internationals; and clinched their first international title as a pair in Vietnam. In August, he representing STIE Perbanas played at the Summer Universiade, and won a bronze medal in the mixed team event.
2008–2009: First Grand Prix title In July, Ahsan who representing North Maluku won a silver medal at the National Games in the men's doubles event with partner Fernando Kurniawan. Ahsan was selected to join Indonesia national training center in the middle of 2008. He was then reached his first Super Series finals with Bona Septano in the Japan Open where they faced Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen, but lost the match in three games.
Ahsan and Bona Septano clinched their first Grand Prix title in the 2009 Philippines Open. He made his debut with the Indonesia national team at the Sudirman Cup, and won a bronze medal at that tournament. On his first appearance at the SEA Games, he contributing points for Indonesia in the final against Malaysia, secured a gold medal for the team, and a bronze medal in the men's doubles. Meanwhile, Ahsan and Septano debut at the World Championships had to be knocked out in the second round by the Chinese pair Guo Zhendong and Xu Chen. They also reaching the quarter-finals in some Super Series tournaments; the Korea, All England, and the French Opens.
2010–2011: SEA Games gold and World Championships bronze Ahsan made his debut with Indonesia team in the Thomas Cup in 2010. At that tournament, Indonesia reached the finals and won the silver medal after being defeated by the defending champion China. After his partner, Bona Septano, come back from injury, they had won two titles in a row in the Vietnam Grand Prix and Indonesia Grand Prix Gold in October. Ahsan then participated in the 2010 Asian Games, winning two bronze medals in the men's doubles with Alvent Yulianto and in the men's team event. Ahsan and his partner, Septano, closed the 2010 season by winning the men's doubles title in the India Grand Prix.
In the first semester of 2011 season, Ahsan and Septano unable to win a title, since their best results were the semi-finalists in the Malaysia and Indonesia Opens, as well as the quarter-finalists in the All England, Swiss Open and the Malaysia Grand Prix Gold. Ahsan also took part at the Sudirman Cup, and prevented a clean sweep from Denmark, as he and Alvent Yulianto beating the current world number 1 Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen in straight games, but Indonesia lost 1–3 in the semifinals tie. In August, Ahsan and Septano captured the bronze medal at the BWF World Championships. The duo then reached their first final of the year in the Japan Open, but lost to current World Champions Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng. They managed to win their first title of the year, by defend the Indonesia Grand Prix Gold title, and then won the gold medals in the men's team and doubles events in the SEA Games. Another results for Ahsan and Septano in the rest of 2011 season were the quarter-finalists in the China Masters, French, and Macau Opens. They qualified to compete in the Super Series Finals in Liuzhou, China, but their pace at that tournament were stopped in the group stage.
2012–2013: Beginning of Ahsan and Setiawan partnership, World champions, and number 1 In 2012, Ahsan and Setiawan partnership did not show satisfactory results, since they were unable to win any international tournaments, up to 2012 London Olympics when they were only able to finished the tournament as a quarter-finalists. In September, he played at the National Games for Central Java, and claimed two gold medals in the men's doubles and team events, and also a bronze in the mixed doubles. Ahsan then formed a new partnership with his senior, Hendra Setiawan. Ahsan and Setiawan debut were quite good as they finished as semi-finalists in the Denmark Open.
Ahsan and Setiawan campaign in 2013 looks promising. In January, they clinched their first title as a pair in the Malaysia Open, beating the Korean pair Ko Sung-hyun and Lee Yong-dae in the final. They later won five tournaments in a row, started in the Australia Open in April; the Indonesia and Singapore Opens in June, with another victory against Ko and Lee in both tournaments; the BWF World Championships in August; and later at the Japan Open in September. At the World Championships, they won the title without dropping a single game to their opponents on the way to the final. Their winning streak then stopped by youngster compatriot Ronald Alexander and Selvanus Geh in the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Grand Prix Gold. They then suffered back-to-back losses to Lee yong-dae with his new partner, Yoo Yeon-seong, in the final of the Denmark Open, first round of the China Open, and also in the semi-finals of the Hong Kong Open. The duo later won the season-ending tournament title, the BWF Superseries Finals, defeating Koreans Kim Gi-jung and Kim Sa-rang in straight sets. For their achievements in 2013, Setiawan and Ahsan took the number one position in the BWF world ranking in November 2013.
2014–2016: First All England title and Asian Games gold In March 2014, Ahsan and Setiawan won the All England Open after beating the Japanese pairing of Hiroyuki Endo and Kenichi Hayakawa in the final. This is the first All England title for both players. They were included in the Indonesian squad at the 2014 Thomas Cup in New Delhi. At that tournament, Ahsan and Setiawan won their first match against Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Yeon-seong, and led Indonesia won 3–2 in the quarter-finals tie against South Korea. Indonesia was then defeated by Malaysia in the semi-finals. Ahsan and Setiawan again lost to Lee and Yoo in the finals of the Japan and Indonesia Opens. They then recorded their second win over the Korean pair Lee and Yoo in the men's doubles final of the 2014 Asian Games, claiming Ahsan's first ever Asian Games gold. In November, Ahsan and Setiawan won the Hong Kong Open. They later played at the invitational tournament, "Glory to the King", and won the men's doubles title after beating host pair Bodin Isara and Pakkawat Vilailak in the final.
Ahsan and Setiawan captured three titles in 2015, the Malaysia Open, BWF World Championships, and at the Dubai World Superseries Finals. Their victory begins with defeating Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Yeon-seong in the final of the Malaysia Open in April. At the Asian Championships, they reached the finals, losing out to top seed Lee and Yoo in a close rubber games. At the Sudirman Cup, they were able to contribute points for the Indonesian team, by defeating the four-time World Champions Cai Yun and Fu Haifeng, but China took the next 3 matches, so that Indonesia cannot advance to the final. Ahsan and Setiawan also stopped in the semi-finals of the Indonesia and Chinese Taipei Opens. The duo then won their second World Championships title as a pair, after winning the 2015 BWF World Championships in their home country. They defeated Lee and Yoo in straight games in the semi-finals and the Chinese pair Liu Xiaolong and Qiu Zihan in the final. After the World Championships, they were unable to give an accomplishment, with their best results being the semi-finalists in the French and Hong Kong Opens. Ahsan and Setiawan finally won their second season-ending title at the Dubai World Superseries Finals after defeating Chai Biao and Hong Wei in the finals.
Ahsan began the 2016 season by winning the Thailand Masters with Setiawan. He played at the Asia Team Championships, and helped Indonesia progress to the final round. Indonesia won the title after beating Japan in the final. He also competed at the Thomas Cup, and the team finished runner-up to Denmark. Ahsan made his second appearance at the Olympic Games by competed in the 2016 Rio with partner Setiawan as the second seeds, but the duo were eliminated in the group stage. The duo split after the 2016 Korea Open Super Series, ending their four years partnership. Ahsan was then partnered with Berry Angriawan. His partnership with Angriawan was short-lived and he was then paired with Rian Agung Saputro.
2017–2018: Ahsan-Saputro World silver medalist; Ahsan-Setiawan reunite: "The Daddies" Ahsan and Saputro's first international title was in 2017 China International. They later won silver at the 2017 BWF World Championships. In the Superseries event tournaments, Ahsan and Saputro have not been able to show consistency in their matches, and their best result during the season were being a semi-finalists in the China Open. Ahsan and Setiawan paired back again in the end of 2017, to compete in the Indonesian National Championships. They emerged victorious at that competition after beating Frengky Wijaya Putra and Sabar Karyaman Gutama in the final.