Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (born 2 August 1995) is an Indonesian former badminton player who was ranked world number 1 in the men's doubles by the Badminton World Federation. Considered as one of the best players of his generation, he won the men's doubles titles at the All England Open in 2017 and 2018; the World Superseries Finals in 2017; and the Asian Games in 2018. He was also featured in the Indonesia winning team at the SEA Games in 2015; the Asia Team Championships in 2018 and 2020; and the Thomas Cup in 2020. Together with his then partner Marcus Fernaldi Gideon, they were awarded the BWF Best Male Players of the Year for two consecutive years after collecting seven Superseries titles in 2017 and eight World Tour titles in 2018.
Sukamuljo and Gideon are often referred to as "the Minions" because of their below average height as well as their fast and agile playing style, jumping and bouncing just like the Minions in the film Despicable Me.
Early and personal life Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo was born on 2 August 1995 in Banyuwangi, East Java, Indonesia, to parents Sugiarto Sukamuljo and Winartin Niawati of Chinese Indonesians ethnicity. He is the nephew of former world number 1 men's doubles player, Alvent Yulianto. Sukamuljo started to learn about badminton at two and a half years, by seeing his father play on the court behind their house. Noticing young Sukamuljo's interest in badminton, his father then found a coach in Jember at the Putra 46 club to foster his child's talent for a year. Sukamuljo later entered the Sari Agung club in Banyuwangi and in 2006, at the age of eleven, he won a Graha Bhakti Cup tournament. Recognizing his talent, Sukamuljo's parents encouraged him to join a bigger club. He then took part at the general auditions scholarship held by PB Djarum, but failed due to his small physique. However, he refused to give up, and began training everyday, instead of his usual 4 days a week routine. With these additional hours, he finally managed to pass the audition at PB Djarum in 2007.
After joining PB Djarum, Sukamuljo went through defeat after defeat. At first, Sukamuljo played in the men's singles discipline. However, he was then turned toward the doubles disciplines, experimenting with both the men's and mixed doubles. Initially, he and his parents resisted this turn toward specialization in doubles, but men's doubles coach Ade Lukas believed that this was where Sukamuljo's skills and abilities would be best utilized. After a year of training in doubles, he showed progress and had great expectations going forward.
In January 2022, Sukamuljo revealed his romantic relationship with entrepreneur Valencia Tanoesoedibjo, the second daughter of Indonesian media businessman and politician Hary Tanoesoedibjo, after much speculation from the public from around December 2021. The two were officially engaged in August 2022, in which Sukamuljo proposed to Tanoesoedibjo at the Jakarta International Stadium. The couple got married on 23 March 2023, in Paris, France. Sukamuljo's teammates Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto were present as groomsmen in the ceremony.
Career
2010–2013: Junior and early senior career In the PB Djarum club, Sukamuljo was trained by Sigit Budiarto. He won some National Circuit tournaments in his age group with different partners. In 2010, he won the Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, Pekanbaru, and Jakarta circuits, and also the Candra Wijaya men's doubles championships. In 2011, he won the Jakarta circuit and Pertamina Open. He represented Indonesia at the 2011 ASEAN School Games held at the Yio Chu Kang Sports Hall, Singapore, and won a gold in the mixed doubles with Aris Budiharti, and a silver in the boys' doubles with Felix Kinalsal. In July 2011, just before turning 16, Sukamuljo qualified to compete in the international senior age group, by reaching the finals of the Singapore International Series tournament partnered with Lukhi Apri Nugroho. He also played at the World Junior Championships held in Taoyuan City, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals in the boys' doubles event with his partner Nugroho.
In 2012, Sukamuljo won the U-19 National tournament the Jakarta Open and West Java circuits, also the Candra Wijaya men's doubles championships. In July, he won a bronze medal at the Asian Junior Championships in the boys' doubles event with Alfian Eko Prasetya. He was named as the "future athlete" at the Tangkas Specs Junior Challenge after showing a good performance and finished as runner-up in that tournament. In August, he was ranked as number 1 in the BWF World Junior Ranking. In October–November, he competed at the World Junior Championships held in Chiba, Japan, but lost in the early stages of both the boys' and mixed doubles events. In December, he clinched the boys' doubles title at the Junior National Championships with Rafiddias Akhdan Nugroho.
In 2013, Sukamuljo was selected to join the national men's doubles team squad. He started the season by competing in Vietnam International Challenge partnered with Rafiddias Akhdan Nugroho, but lost in the quarter-finals to the Hong Kong pair Chan Yun Lung and Wong Wai Hong in a close rubber game. In May, he won the West Java circuit tournament teamed with Hafiz Faizal. In July, he competed at the Asian Junior Championships held in Kota Kinabalu, Malaysia, and captured bronze medals in the mixed team and boys' doubles events partnered with Arya Maulana Aldiartama. Turning eighteen in August, he won the mixed doubles title at the Tangkas Specs Junior International Challenge with Masita Mahmudin. In October–November, he participated at the World Junior Championships in Bangkok, Thailand where he helped Indonesia to win the silver medal in the mixed team event. In the individual tournament he earned mixed doubles silver with Mahmudin, losing the final match to the Chinese pair Huang Kaixiang and Chen Qingchen, whom they had beaten the previous week in the semifinals of team play.
2014–2016: From International Challenge to Superseries titles Sukamuljo began the 2014 season playing with a new partner, Selvanus Geh, and won his very first tournament with Geh, the Vietnam International Challenge by beating Australians Robin Middleton and Ross Smith in the finals. In his second month playing with Geh, he captured his first Grand Prix doubles title at the New Zealand Open, when he and Geh upset the second seeds from Chinese Taipei Chen Hung-ling and Lu Chia-pin in the finals. In June, he competed against the world's best players at the Indonesia Open paired with Geh and with Greysia Polii in mixed doubles . Starting from the qualification round in both events, he was stopped in the second round of the main draw in both, but in the first round of mixed doubles, he and Polii put out the defending champions and world number ones Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei, 15–21, 21–18, 23–21. In July, Sukamuljo and Geh reached the quarterfinals of the Chinese Taipei Open. In September, they reached their first Grand Prix Gold final as a team at the Indonesia Masters where they were beaten in three games by Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and doubles great Markis Kido the top seeds. Sukamuljo then won his third title with Geh at the Bulgarian International defeating compatriots Ronald Alexander and Edi Subaktiar in the final. Sukamuljo's mixed doubles partnerships with Della Destiara Haris and Maretha Dea Giovani were less successful reaching no farther than the quarterfinals of any 2014 tournament. In December Sukamuljo joined Indonesia's team for the Axiata Cup in Kuala Lumpur, but the squad was narrowly edged by Thailand.
In 2015, head coach of the Indonesia national men's doubles juniors, Chafidz Yusuf, paired Sukamuljo with Marcus Fernaldi Gideon, because Selvanus Geh had to resign from the national team due to illness. The new partnership opened the season in Europe playing at the All England and Swiss Open. In England they reached the quarterfinals before falling to the Danish pair Mads Conrad-Petersen and Mads Pieler Kolding, Partnered with Greysia Polii, Sukamuljo lost in the second round of mixed double to fifth seeds Chris and Gabby Adcock. In Switzerland, he and Gideon were stopped in the semi-finals by the Malaysian pair Goh V Shem and Tan Wee Kiong. Sukamuljo then took part in the Sudirman Cup held in Dongguan, China, where Indonesia settled for a bronze medal. At the June SEA Games in Singapore, he helped his team win the gold medal, and in the individual men's doubles event, he and Gideon captured the silver medal.
In July, Sukamuljo and Gideon competing as an unseeded pair in the Chinese Taipei Open, and the duo reached the final by defeating then World Champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, but they failed to take the title, losing the final tamely to Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan. After this tournament, Indonesian badminton fans dub them as "the Minions" because of their below average height and for their fast and agile playing style, jumping and bouncing just like the Minions in the film Despicable Me. The former badminton player who is currently a BWF commentator, Gillian Clark, also highlighted that the fast play shown by Sukamuljo and Gideon have taken the men's doubles game to a new level and makes the matches exciting to watch. In the next tournament, the duo then reached the semifinals of the Vietnam and Thailand Opens before capturing their first title together at the Chinese Taipei Masters in October where they beat Malaysia' Hoon Thien How and Lim Khim Wah in the finals. In the Hong Kong Open, Sukamuljo and Gideon beat the World Championship silver medalists Liu Xiaolong and Qiu Zihan before losing to top seededed South Koreans Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Yeon-seong in the quarterfinals. In December, they were stopped in the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Masters by second seeds Chai Biao and Hong Wei in three games. They ended the 2015 season ranked 16th in the world.
Sukamuljo and Gideon kicked off the 2016 season by winning the Malaysia Masters in January. They then suffered a slump with early exits from several tournaments, including a first round exit from the All England Open. After this All England low their form, though inconsistent, improved significantly. They reached the semifinals of the New Zealand Open in late March and in April clinched their first Superseries title as a team at the India Open, beating their senior compatriot Angga Pratama and Ricky Karanda Suwardi in the final. In the following weeks they were defeated in the second round of Malaysia Open, then in the quarter-finals of Singapore Open and Asian Championships. In May, Sukamuljo participated in the Thomas Cup held in Kunshan, China, but he failed to contribute points to the Indonesian team during the Thomas Cup Group B tie against Thailand. and was not selected to play in the knockout stage of the tournament between qualifying teams. Here Indonesia won the silver medal, losing the final 2 matches to 3 against Denmark.
In June, Sukamuljo and Gideon were eliminated in the second round of Indonesia Open by world number 1 Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Yeon-seong. A week later, however, the duo won their second Superseries title at the Australian Open, in the quarterfinals defeating Zhang Nan and Fu Haifeng for the first time, to whom they had lost three previous matches. Due to an injury suffered by Gideon, Sukamuljo was paired with Wahyu Nayaka at the home soil Indonesian Masters tournament, but the scratch partnership still managed to win the title. After Gideon's recovery the reunited duo won the Superseries Premier tournament at the China Open. The team was ranked as number 4 in Destination Dubai rankings, and qualified to compete for the year-end Superseries Finals, but they failed to advance from the group phase. Nevertheless, at year's end Sukamuljo and Gideon occupied the number 2 position in the world rankings.
2017: World number 1