Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (born 9 March 1991) is an Indonesian

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per side) and "doubles" (with two players pe ...

player who was formerly ranked world No. 1 in the men's doubles by the

Badminton World Federation The Badminton World Federation (BWF) is the international governing body for the sport of badminton recognised by the International Olympic Committee (IOC). It was founded in 1934 as the International Badminton Federation (IBF) with nine member ...

. He plays for PB Jaya Raya, and has joined the club since June 2018. He won the 2017 All England Open with his current partner

Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (born 2 August 1995) is an Indonesian badminton player who was formerly ranked world number 1 in the men's doubles by the Badminton World Federation. He plays for PB Djarum, and has been a member of the club since 2007 ...

. He and Sukamuljo were recognized as one of the most outstanding players, and awarded as the BWF Best Male Players of the Year for two years in a row after collecting seven Superseries titles in

2017 File:2017 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: The War Against ISIS at the Battle of Mosul (2016-2017); aftermath of the Manchester Arena bombing; The Solar eclipse of August 21, 2017 ("Great American Eclipse"); North Korea tests a ser ...

and eight World Tour titles in

2018 File:2018 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: The 2018 Winter Olympics opening ceremony in PyeongChang, South Korea; Protests erupt following the Assassination of Jamal Khashoggi; March for Our Lives protests take place across the United ...

. Gideon and Sukamuljo are often referred to 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''. Gillian Clark, a BWF commentator, stated that the fast play shown by Gideon and Sukamuljo have taken the men's doubles game to a new level and makes the matches more exciting to watch.

Career

Early life

Gideon started his career in badminton at the Tangkas Jakarta club when he was 9 years old. At the age of 13, he began playing professionally, and at the same time, he received a scholarship in Singapore. Four months later in Singapore, he returned to Indonesia because of illness, and decided not to continue his education abroad. He was again trained by his father, as a singles and doubles player. Gideon won his first international title in the men's singles discipline at the Victorian International a Future Series event.

2010–2014: Independent player, first Superseries title

Gideon was selected to join the national training centre in Cipayung, in the men's doubles team in 2010. Partnered with Agripina Prima Rahmanto Putra, he won the 2011

Singapore Singapore (), officially the Republic of Singapore, is a sovereign island country and city-state in maritime Southeast Asia. It lies about one degree of latitude () north of the equator, off the southern tip of the Malay Peninsula, borde ...

and 2012

Iran International Iran International ( fa, ایران اینترنشنال) is a Persian language news television channel headquartered in London, UK, aimed at Iranian viewers, and broadcasting free-to-air by satellite. Iran International was established in 2017 a ...

tournaments, and also finished as the runners-up in 2012

Vietnam Vietnam or Viet Nam ( vi, Việt Nam, ), officially the Socialist Republic of Vietnam,., group="n" is a country in Southeast Asia, at the eastern edge of mainland Southeast Asia, with an area of and population of 96 million, making i ...

and Osaka International. Feeling disappointed with the Herry Iman Pierngadi decision in the sending players to the international tournaments, Gideon decided to leave the national training centre in 2013. Gideon then returned to the court as an independent player paired with the

Beijing 2008 The 2008 Summer Olympics (), officially the Games of the XXIX Olympiad () and also known as Beijing 2008 (), were an international multisport event held from 8 to 24 August 2008, in Beijing, China. A total of 10,942 athletes from 204 Nat ...

gold medalist,

Markis Kido Markis Kido (11 August 1984 – 14 June 2021) was an Indonesian badminton player and one of the world's leading in men's doubles discipline. He won the discipline's gold medal at the 2006 World Cup, 2007 World Championships, 2008 Olympic Games ...

. The duo reached the semifinals at the 2013 Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold losing to national players Ronald Alexander and

Selvanus Geh Selvanus Geh (born 27 November 1993) is an Indonesian badminton player specializes in doubles from Hi-Qua Wima Surabaya club. He won boys' doubles bronze medals at the 2011 Asian Junior Badminton Championships, 2011 Asian and 2011 BWF World Juni ...

in straight games. He captured his first Superseries title at the

2013 French Open The 2013 French Open was a tennis tournament played on outdoor clay courts. It was the 117th edition of the French Open and the second Grand Slam event of the year. It took place at the Stade Roland Garros from 26 May to 9 June. It consisted of e ...

with Kido, played from the qualification stage, and beat the seeded pairs in their journey to reach the men's doubles podium. Gideon and Kido, reached the semifinals at the 2014 All England Open, and then won their second title at the 2014 Indonesia Masters defeating

and

in the final with the rubber games.

2015–2016: The Minions World number 2

Seeing his achievements with

, Gideon was invited by PBSI to rejoin the national team. In early 2015, he was paired with

, ending the years by occupying the top 20

BWF World Ranking The BWF World Ranking is the official ranking of the Badminton World Federation for badminton players who participate in tournaments sanctioned by Badminton World Federation. It is used to determine the qualification for the World Championships a ...

, grabbing one title at the

Chinese Taipei Masters The Chinese Taipei Masters was an international badminton tournament held in Taiwan from 2015 to 2016. The level of the tournament was BWF Grand Prix tournament. Past winners Performances by nation See also * List of sporting events in Taiwan ...

. At the

Chinese Taipei Open The Taipei Open, formerly named the Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold (2007–2017) and Chinese Taipei Open (2018–2019), is an open badminton international championships held in Taiwan since the 1970s, but they took place only in irregular pe ...

in July, Gideon and Sukamuljo reached the final by defeating then World Champions

Mohammad Ahsan Mohammad Ahsan (born 7 September 1987) is an Indonesian badminton player affiliated with Djarum club who specializes in the men's doubles. He is three-time World Champion, three-time season ending finals champion, and Asian Games gold medalist ...

and

Hendra Setiawan Hendra Setiawan (born 25 August 1984) is an Indonesian badminton player. He is an Olympic Games gold medalist, four-time World Champion, two-time Asian Games gold medalist, and two-time All England champion. With these achievements, Setiawan has ...

, but they failed to take the title, losing the final tamely to

Fu Haifeng Fu Haifeng (born 23 August 1983) is a Chinese former badminton player. He is regarded as one of the greatest men's doubles players of all time. Sport career Combining Fu Haifeng's impressive power with his regular partner Cai Yun's impressive s ...

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 ''Despicable Me'' is a computer-animated media franchise centering on Gru, a reformed super-villain (who later becomes a father, husband, and secret agent), and his yellow-colored Minions. It is produced by Illumination and distributed by ...

. The former badminton player who is currently a BWF commentator, Gillian Clark, also highlighted that the fast play shown by Gideon and Sukamuljo have taken the men's doubles game to a new level and makes the matches exciting to watch. Gideon also participated at the

Southeast Asian Games The Southeast Asian Games, also known as the SEA Games, is a biennial multi-sport event involving participants from the current 11 countries of Southeast Asia. The games are under the regulation of the Southeast Asian Games Federation with supe ...

, clinched the gold medal in the men's team event and a silver medal in the men's doubles event. Gideon and Sukamuljo started their 2016 tour by winning the

Malaysia Masters The Malaysia Masters, began in 2009, is a badminton tournament at the Super 500 grade, formerly a Grand Prix Gold. The total prize money is now US$350,000, having previously been US$120,000. BWF categorised Malaysia Masters as one of the seven ...

, their performance continued to improve and they won the Superseries title in

India India, officially the Republic of India (Hindi: ), is a country in South Asia. It is the seventh-largest country by area, the second-most populous country, and the most populous democracy in the world. Bounded by the Indian Ocean on the so ...

and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a Sovereign state, sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous List of islands of Australia, sma ...

, followed by the Superseries Premier title in

China China, officially the People's Republic of China (PRC), is a country in East Asia. It is the world's most populous country, with a population exceeding 1.4 billion, slightly ahead of India. China spans the equivalent of five time zones and ...

. At the end of 2016, he and Sukamuljo reached the top 10 world ranking, and qualified to compete at the

BWF Superseries Finals The BWF Super Series Finals (named as BWF Super Series Masters Finals until 2009) was an annual badminton tournament held at the end of the year where the players with the most points from that calendar year's twelve events of the BWF Super Series c ...

held in Dubai. The duo failed to advance to the knock out stage after standing in the third position in the group stage, having won a match against their compatriots

Angga Pratama Angga Pratama (born 12 May 1991) is an Indonesian badminton player affiliated with Jaya Raya Jakarta club. He competed in the men's doubles event in the international tournaments, and together with Ricky Karanda Suwardi, he won the 2015 Singap ...

and

Ricky Karanda Suwardi Ricky Karanda Suwardi (born 21 January 1992) is an Indonesian badminton player specializing in doubles. He is from Mutiara Cardinal Bandung club. Paired with Angga Pratama started end of 2014, the 2015 Singapore Open became the first BWF World S ...

, and losing two matches to Danish and Japanese pairs. Nevertheless, at year's end Gideon and Sukamuljo occupied the number 2 position in the world rankings.

2017: World number 1

Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo - Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Defending All England Open Title

Now competing only in the world's biggest events, Gideon and Sukamuljo began the 2017 by making up for their 2016 first round defeat with a tournament victory at the coveted All England Open in March, thus earning a number one men's doubles world ranking. They then secured their second consecutive

India Open The India Open is an annual badminton event which has been held in India since 2008 and is a BWF World Tour Super 750 international badminton tournament. Its first three editions were designated as Grand Prix Gold events. In 2011, it was upgr ...

title, and after that won the Malaysia Open. Their remarkable winning run was then stopped by Danish veterans

Mathias Boe Mathias Boe (born 11 July 1980) is a badminton player from Denmark. He was the gold medalist at the 2015 European Games, two time European champions winning in 2012 and 2017, and the silver medalist at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He joined the Den ...

and

Carsten Mogensen Carsten Mogensen (born 24 July 1983) is a former badminton player from Denmark. He was the gold medalist at the 2015 European Games, two time European champions winning in 2012 and 2017, and the silver medalist at the 2012 Summer Olympics. Moge ...

in the semifinals of the Singapore Open. In May, they played for Indonesia at the

Sudirman Cup The Sudirman Cup is an international badminton mixed team competition contested by member countries of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every two years since the inaugura ...

held in Australia. In group round robin play they won their country's only point in its surprising loss to India but in group play against Denmark they again lost to Boe and Mogensen, as Indonesia, for the first time in the Cup's 28 year history, was eliminated in the group stage of the competition. In June the duo was upset by another Danish pair,

Kim Astrup Kim Astrup Sørensen (born 6 March 1992) is a Danish badminton player. As junior player, he won the bronze medal at the 2010 World Junior Championships in the boys' doubles. He later won a gold in the mixed doubles and bronze medals in the boys' ...

and

Anders Skaarup Rasmussen Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (born 15 February 1989) is a Danish badminton player. He joined the Denmark winning team at the 2016 Thomas Cup in Kunshan, China, where he and his teammates beating Indonesia 3–2 in the final. Rasmussen won the men's ...

, in the first round of Indonesia Open. In August, Gideon and Sukamuljo went to the

World Championships A world championship is generally an international competition open to elite competitors from around the world, representing their nations, and winning such an event will be considered the highest or near highest achievement in the sport, game, ...

held in Glasgow, Scotland, as third seeds, but lost in the quarter-finals to China's

Chai Biao Chai Biao (; born 10 October 1990) is a Chinese professional badminton player. Chai has concentrated on men's doubles for the majority of his senior career in badminton. His most successful partnership was with Hong Wei: together they reached the ...

and

Hong Wei Hong Wei (; born 4 October 1989) is a Chinese professional badminton player. He competed at the 2016 Rio in the men's doubles event, and placed fourth after losing the bronze medal match to Great Britain pair Chris Langridge and Marcus Ellis. ...

in three close games. In September they reached the final of the Korea Open but were again beaten by Boe and Morgensen, however, one week later they exacted a measure of revenge against the Danes in the semi-finals of Japan Open, then went on to win the tournament by defeating the host pair of

Takuto Inoue is a Japanese badminton player from the Unisys team. He won his first senior international title at the 2013 Romanian International tournament in the men's singles and doubles event. Achievements BWF World Junior Championships ''Boys' doub ...

and Yuki Kaneko. In October, Gideon and Sukamuljo lost the final of the

Denmark Open The Denmark Open, or formerly known as Danish Open, is an annual badminton tournament held in Denmark and organized by Badminton Denmark. The Denmark Open was part of the BWF Super Series Premier from 2011 to 2017. BWF categorised it as one of ...

in a tight match to reigning World Champion Liu Cheng and Zhang Nan. Citing an arm injury suffered during their semifinal match in Denmark, Gideon withdrew from the next Superseries tournament in

France France (), officially the French Republic ( ), is a country primarily located in Western Europe. It also comprises of Overseas France, overseas regions and territories in the Americas and the Atlantic Ocean, Atlantic, Pacific Ocean, Pac ...

. Back together in November, Gideon and Sukamuljo improved their head-to-head record against Boe and Mogensen to 3–4, after defeating them in the finals and securing their second China Open title. They won the Hong Kong Open a week later, their sixth Superseries victory of the season, thus equaling the previous men's doubles record of six set by South Koreans

Lee Yong-dae Lee Yong-dae (Hangul: 이용대; Hanja: 李龍大; ; born 11 September 1988) is a professional badminton player from South Korea who had been successful in both men's and mixed doubles. He reached world number 1 ranking with 4 different partners, ...

and

Yoo Yeon-seong Yoo Yeon-seong (; born 19 August 1986) is a South Korean professional badminton player. He specializes in doubles events and was ranked as high as No. 2 worldwide with his former partner, Ko Sung-hyun. The two also competed at the 2012 Summer O ...

in 2015. For their achievements Sukamuljo and Gideon were named Best Male Players of the Year by the Badminton World Federation. The duo then closed out the year by capturing the Dubai World Superseries Finals, making them the first men's doubles pair to win seven Superseries titles in a year.

2018: Asian Games gold medalists

Under the new BWF player commitment regulations, Gideon and Sukamuljo who ranked as world number 1, are obligated to play in 12 BWF World Tour. They were unbeaten in the first 3 tournaments that they participated in, capturing his second

Indonesia Masters The Indonesia Masters is an international badminton tournament in BWF World Tour Super 500 (Super 750 in 2021). Formerly known as the Indonesia Open Grand Prix Gold, it was first held in 2010 in Samarinda, East Kalimantan, and change its venue in ...

and All England Open, and also his third

titles. He and Gideon then defeated at the quarterfinals of Malaysia Open by Chinese pair He Jiting and Tan Qiang. In July, he and his partner won the Indonesia Open. At the 2018 World Championships, Gideon and Sukamuljo lost in the quarterfinals to

Takeshi Kamura is a Japanese badminton player. He was selected to join the national team in 2013 and retired in 2021. Kamura was part of the national team that won the 2014 Thomas Cup. He captured his first Superseries title at the 2016 Hong Kong Open, and re ...

and

Keigo Sonoda is a Japanese badminton player. He affiliated with the YKK AP Yatsushiro, before joining the Tonami team in 2010. Sonoda was part of the national team that won the 2014 Thomas Cup. He captured his first Superseries title at the 2016 Hong Kong O ...

in straight games. Gideon competed at the

2018 Asian Games The 2018 Asian Games ( id, Pesta Olahraga Asia 2018 or ''Asian Games 2018''), officially known as the 18th Asian Games and also known as Jakarta-Palembang 2018 or Indonesia 2018, was a Asia, continental multi-sport event that was held from 18 A ...

, won a silver in the

team A team is a group of individuals (human or non-human) working together to achieve their goal. As defined by Professor Leigh Thompson (academic), Leigh Thompson of the Kellogg School of Management, " team is a group of people who are interde ...

events, and then captured the men's doubles gold medal, after he and his partner, Sukamuljo, beat their compatriots

Fajar Alfian Fajar Alfian (born 7 March 1995) is an Indonesian badminton player affiliated with the SGS PLN Bandung. He won the men's doubles silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games, the bronze medals at the 2019 World Championships and at the 2017 Southeast A ...

and

Muhammad Rian Ardianto Muhammad Rian Ardianto (born 13 February 1996) is an Indonesian badminton player. Born in Bantul, Yogyakarta SR, Ardianto plays for the Jaya Raya Jakarta club at national events. He won the men's doubles silver medal at the 2018 Asian Games, th ...

in a close rubber games in the final. In September, Gideon and Sukamuljo retained their Japan Open title, defeating the reigning World Champions

Li Junhui Li Junhui (, born 10 May 1995) is a Chinese former badminton player. He was the gold medalist at the 2018 World Championships in the men's doubles event partnered with Liu Yuchen, two times won the gold medal at the Asian Championships in 2017 ...

and

Liu Yuchen Liu Yuchen (, born 25 July 1995) is a Chinese badminton player. He was the men's doubles World Champion in 2018, two-time Asian Champion in 2017 and 2018, and also a silver medalist at the 2020 Summer Olympics partnered with Li Junhui. Liu was p ...

. A week later, they finished as semifinalists in China Open, lost to

Han Chengkai Han Chengkai (, born 29 January 1998) is a Chinese badminton player. He won the boys' doubles title at the 2016 Asian and World Junior Championships. Han also part of the Chinese team that won the 2019 Tong Yun Kai and Sudirman Cups. Together ...

and

Zhou Haodong Zhou Haodong (, born 20 February 1998) is a Chinese badminton player. Together with his partner Han Chengkai Han Chengkai (, born 29 January 1998) is a Chinese badminton player. He won the boys' doubles title at the 2016 Asian and World Jun ...

of China. On the Europe tour in October, they clinched the

title. But in

, they again defeated by Han and Zhou in the final, made their head-to-head record deficit to 1–2. In November, the duo won the Fuzhou China Open and Hong Kong Open. After the victory they achieved in Hong Kong, Gideon and Sukamuljo managed to set a record as the first ever men's doubles pair to win eight world tour titles in a season. At the 2018 BWF World Tour Finals gala dinner, the duo then awarded as the BWF Best Male Players of the Year for two consecutive year. As the defending champions of the World Tour Finals, they had to withdraw from the competition before their last group match, due to the neck injury suffered by Gideon.

2019: Eight World Tour titles

Gideon opened the season in January by winning his second

and third

titles. Gideon and Sukamuljo reached his record 20th titles at the Superseries/Super 500 above tournaments. They then played at the

Asian Championships An Asian Championship is a top level international sports competition between Asian athletes or sports teams representing their respective countries or professional sports clubs. List of Championships (Summer Olympic Sports) ;Aquatics * Asian ...

held in Wuhan, China as first seed, and proceeded to the final, but inflicted a crushing defeat by number 5 seed

Hiroyuki Endo is a retired Japanese badminton player. He competed at the 2016 Rio and 2020 Tokyo Summer Olympics. In 2009, he joined the Unisys badminton team. Career Endo won the 1st point in the Thomas Cup finals with Kenichi Hayakawa beating Tan Boon ...

and

Yuta Watanabe is a Japanese professional basketball player for the Brooklyn Nets of the National Basketball Association (NBA). He played college basketball in the United States for the George Washington Colonials, becoming the first Japanese-born student at ...

. Gideon then played with Indonesia mixed team at the Nanning Sudirman Cup, where he and his partner, Sukamuljo, have never lost in their three matches against England, Chinese Taipei and Japan, but the team ended their journey in the competition after lost 1–3 in the semifinals tie against Japan. In the second half of the 2019 season, Gideon and Sukamuljo won the

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania between the Indian and Pacific oceans. It consists of over 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, Java, Sulawesi, and parts of Borneo and New Guine ...

and Japan Opens in July; China Open in September;

Denmark ) , song = ( en, "King Christian stood by the lofty mast") , song_type = National and royal anthem , image_map = EU-Denmark.svg , map_caption = , subdivision_type = Sovereign state , subdivision_name = Danish Realm, Kingdom of Denmark ...

and

French Open The French Open (french: Internationaux de France de tennis), also known as Roland-Garros (), is a major tennis tournament held over two weeks at the Stade Roland Garros in Paris, France, beginning in late May each year. The tournament and ven ...

s in October; and also the Fuzhou China Open in November. Gideon and Sukamuljo were nominated for the Best Male Player award, but failed to retain the award after being defeated by

Kento Momota is a Japanese badminton player. He is known to have a skillful and relentless play style on court. He has won several major badminton tournaments including two World Championships titles, two Asian Championships titles, and one All England ...

. They entered the

World Tour Finals The ATP Finals is the season-ending championship of the ATP Tour. It is the most significant event in the annual ATP calendar after the four majors as it features the top-eight singles players and top-eight doubles teams based on their results th ...

as the first seed. In the group stage, they beat

and

, lost to Endo and Watanabe, and then in the last match, they won against

and

, progressed to the next round as group runners-up. In the semifinal, they again defeated by the Japanese pair Endo and Watanabe, made their head-to-head record deficit to 2–5. Gideon ended the 2019 season by winning eight World Tour titles, including three in a row at Denmark, France and China.

2020–2021: The Thomas Cup: World men's team champions

Gideon and his partner, Sukamuljo started the 2020 season by playing in the

. However, they finished in the quarter finals after losing to

and

in a close rubber game. Gideon later won his fourth

title (third with Sukamuljo) by defeating

and

in straight games in the final. In February, he alongside Indonesia men's team won the Asia Team Championships held in Manila. In March, they played at the All England Open. The duo failed to win the title after lost to

and

in the final. This was their sixth loss in a row over Endo and Watanabe. Due to the

COVID-19 pandemic The COVID-19 pandemic, also known as the coronavirus pandemic, is an ongoing global pandemic of coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) caused by severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The novel virus was first identif ...

, numerous tournaments on the 2020 BWF World Tour were either cancelled or rescheduled for later in the year. Gideon and Sukamuljo planned to return in the international competitions at the 2020 Asian Leg tournament in January 2021, but then they had to withdrawn from the competition after his partner, Sukamuljo, tested positive for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by a virus, the severe acute respiratory syndrome coronavirus 2 (SARS-CoV-2). The first known case was COVID-19 pandemic in Hubei, identified in Wuhan, China, in December ...

in December 2020. Gideon made his comeback at the All England Open in March 2021. He and Sukamuljo had played in the first round by beating the host pair

Matthew Clare Matthew Clare (born 4 March 1997) is an English badminton player. He graduated from the Ripon Grammar School, and now educated at the Loughborough University. He won the 2016 U-19 National Junior Championships in the boys' doubles event partne ...

and

Ethan van Leeuwen Ethan van Leeuwen (born 8 April 2001) is a badminton player from England. Career In 2021, he became the national champion of England after winning the men's doubles, with Matthew Clare at the 2021 English National Badminton Championships. A ...

in a rubber game, but later Indonesia team were forced to withdraw from the competition by BWF after the team members will self-isolate for 10 days from the date of their inbound flight after an anonym person traveling onboard tested positive for COVID-19. In July 2021, Gideon competed at the

2020 Summer Olympics The , officially the and also known as , was an international multi-sport event held from 23 July to 8 August 2021 in Tokyo, Japan, with some preliminary events that began on 21 July. Tokyo was selected as the host city during the ...

partnering Sukamuljo as first seed. The duo led the group standings after won two matches and lost a match. Gideon and Sukamuljo were eliminated from the competition by Malaysian pair

Aaron Chia Aaron Chia Teng Fong (Chinese: 谢定峰, born 24 February 1997) is a Malaysian badminton player. He joined the national team since 2015. He represented Malaysia in the 2018 Thomas Cup. Chia and his partner Soh Wooi Yik were the All England O ...

and

Soh Wooi Yik Soh Wooi Yik (, born 17 February 1998) is a Malaysian badminton player. He was part of the Malaysian 2015 and 2016 BWF World Junior Championships team, and has helped Malaysia clinch a silver medal in mixed team after being defeated by China in ...

in the quarter-finals. In September–October, Gideon alongside Indonesia team competed at the 2021 Sudirman Cup in Vantaa, Finland. The team advanced to the knocked-out stage, but stopped in the quarter-finals to Malaysia. In the next tournament in Aarhus, Denmark, he helped Indonesia team reached the final of the World Men's Team Championships, and the team won the 2020 Thomas Cup. In the next tournament, Gideon and Sukamuljo played at the BWF World Tour in

, French, and

Hylo Open The Hylo Open, formerly known as the BMW Badminton Cup, BMW Open, Bitburger Masters, Bitburger Open and SaarLorLux Open, is an international badminton tournament held at the Saarlandhalle in Saarbrücken, Germany, since 1988. It was sponsored by th ...

s. The duo ended the tour by winning the Hylo Open. At the Indonesia badminton festival, they finished as runner-up in the

and triumph in the Indonesia Open. This was their three successive victory at the Indonesia Open following on from success in 2018 and 2019. Their achievements in 2021, lead them as the first seed in the

BWF World Tour Finals The BWF World Tour Finals, officially HSBC BWF World Tour Finals, which succeeds BWF Super Series Finals, is an annual badminton tournament which is held every December of a year where the players with the most points from that calendar year's event ...

. The duo reached the final, but lost a well contested match to Japan's

Takuro Hoki is a Japanese badminton player affiliated with Tonami team. He was the men's doubles silver medalist at the 2019 World Championships and the men's doubles gold medalist at the 2021 World Championships, being first ever Japanese men's doubles ...

and

Yugo Kobayashi is a Japanese badminton player affiliated with Tonami team. He was the men's doubles silver medalist at the 2019 World Championships and the men's doubles gold medalist at the 2021 World Championships, being first ever Japanese Japanese ma ...

in a close rubber games.

2022

In 2022, Gideon and his partner, Sukamuljo, started the BWF tour in the All England Open. Unfortunately, they were stopped in the semi-finals by the young compatriot, the eventual champions,

Muhammad Shohibul Fikri Muhammad Shohibul Fikri (born 16 November 1999) is an Indonesian badminton player affiliated with SGS PLN Bandung club. Career In 2018, Fikri teamed-up with Bagas Maulana, finished as runner-up at the Indonesia International. He and his partn ...

and

Bagas Maulana Bagas Maulana (born 20 July 1998) is an Indonesian badminton player affiliated with Djarum club. Career In the junior event, Maulana won a boys' doubles Junior Grand Prix title in 2016 partnered with Muhammad Fachrikar. In 2018, Maulana team ...

. In April, Gideon flew to

Porto Porto or Oporto () is the second-largest city in Portugal, the capital of the Porto District, and one of the Iberian Peninsula's major urban areas. Porto city proper, which is the entire municipality of Porto, is small compared to its metropol ...

, Portugal underwent surgery to remove pieces of bone on his ankles performed by surgeon

Niek van Dijk Cornelis Nicolaas "Niek" van Dijk is an orthopaedic surgeon, a specialist in sports traumatology and arthroscopic surgery of the ankle and knee. Until 2016 Van Dijk was Full Professor in Orthopaedics and head of the Orthopaedic Department at the ...

. Even though he has not fully recovered, Gideon returned to the tournament court in June, to compete in the

and

Open Open or OPEN may refer to: Music * Open (band), Australian pop/rock band * The Open (band), English indie rock band * ''Open'' (Blues Image album), 1969 * ''Open'' (Gotthard album), 1999 * ''Open'' (Cowboy Junkies album), 2001 * ''Open'' (YF ...

. At that tournament, Gideon and Sukamuljo finished as semi-finalists in the Indonesia Masters, and stopped in the second round in the Indonesia Open. They then stepped on podium in October as runner-up of the

, losing the final to

and

Personal life

Gideon is the son of former national badminton player, Kurniahu. He married a general practitioner, Agnes Amelinda Mulyadi on 14 April 2018. His first son Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Jr. was born in January 2019.

Awards and nominations

Achievements

Asian Games

''Men's doubles''

Asian Championships

''Men's doubles''

Southeast Asian Games

''Men's doubles''

BWF World Tour (19 titles, 6 runners-up)

The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the

(BWF). The BWF World Tour is divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100. ''Men's doubles''

BWF Superseries (11 titles, 2 runners-up)

The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, was a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the

(BWF). BWF Superseries levels were Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consisted of twelve tournaments around the world that had been introduced since 2011. Successful players were invited to the Superseries Finals, which were held at the end of each year. ''Men's doubles'' : BWF World Superseries Finals tournament :

BWF Superseries The BWF Super Series was a series of Grade 2 badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). It was launched on December 14, 2006 and implemented in 2007. Since 2011, the Super Series includes two levels of tournament, ...

Premier tournament :

tournament

BWF Grand Prix (3 titles, 1 runner-up)

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the

(BWF) and played between 2007 and 2017. ''Men's doubles'' : BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament : BWF Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series (3 titles, 3 runners-up)

''Men's singles'' ''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles'' :

BWF International Challenge The BWF International Challenge is a grade 3 and level 1 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Series (level 2) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament :

BWF International Series The BWF International Series is a grade 3 and level 2 tournament part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and Future Series (level 3), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament :

BWF Future Series The BWF Future Series is a grade 3 and level 3 tournaments part of Continental Circuit of BWF tournaments along with International Challenge (level 1) and International Series (level 2), sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007. ...

tournament

BWF Junior International (1 runner-up)

''Boys' doubles'' : BWF Junior International Grand Prix tournament : BWF Junior International Challenge tournament : BWF Junior International Series tournament : BWF Junior Future Series tournament

Performance timeline

National team

* ''Senior level''

Individual competitions

Senior level

=Men's doubles

=Mixed doubles

Record against selected opponents

Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists.

Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo

Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo have ten winning streaks in the head-to-head record against

and

. They also lead the meeting record with a wide margin against

and

of China and their senior compatriots

and

. Meanwhile, Sukamuljo and Gideon have a poor head-to-head record against

and

(2–6),

and

(0–3), and also

and Zhang Nan (1–3).

Markis Kido

References

External links

* {{DEFAULTSORT:Gideon, Marcus Fernaldi 1991 births Living people Sportspeople from Jakarta Indonesian male badminton players Badminton players at the 2020 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players of Indonesia Badminton players at the 2018 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for Indonesia Asian Games silver medalists for Indonesia Asian Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2018 Asian Games Competitors at the 2015 Southeast Asian Games Southeast Asian Games gold medalists for Indonesia Southeast Asian Games silver medalists for Indonesia Southeast Asian Games medalists in badminton World No. 1 badminton players BWF Best Male Player of the Year