Andreas Nova Widianto (born 10 October 1977) is an Indonesian former

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. He is currently the Indonesia national team mixed doubles head coach.

Career

Nova Widianto is considered one of the greatest doubles player in his era. He is known for his superb movement on court and versatility to be paired with various players. Widianto specialized in mixed doubles. He enjoyed some international success with

Vita Marissa Vita Marissa (born 4 January 1981) is an Indonesian retired badminton player. Career Marissa competed in badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics in mixed doubles with partner Nova Widianto. They had a bye in the first round and defeated Rober ...

, winning the Southeast Asian Games in 2001, the Asian Badminton Championships in 2003, and the Japan Open in 2004. However, his greatest success came from a partnership with Lilyana Natsir. They have been one of the world's two or three leading teams. In 2005, they were able to win the World Championships in

2005 File:2005 Events Collage V2.png, From top left, clockwise: Hurricane Katrina in the Gulf of Mexico; the Funeral of Pope John Paul II is held in Vatican City; "Me at the zoo", the first video ever to be uploaded to YouTube; Eris was discovered in ...

, beating

Xie Zhongbo Xie Zhongbo (; born 22 May 1983) is a former Chinese badminton player from Hunan and raised in Sichuan. After retired from the international tournament, he works as badminton coach in Sichuan. Career A doubles specialist on the world circuit, ...

and Zhang Yawen in the final. The pair once more captured the gold medal at the

2007 File:2007 Events Collage.png, From top left, clockwise: Steve Jobs unveils Apple's first iPhone; TAM Airlines Flight 3054 overruns a runway and crashes into a gas station, killing almost 200 people; Former Pakistani Prime Minister of Pakistan, Pr ...

, by beating

Zheng Bo Zheng Bo (; born 26 November 1983) is a badminton player from Hunan, China. Career A doubles specialist, Zheng won men's doubles at the 2003 Indonesia Open with Sang Yang. Zheng and Sang also secured the winning point against Denmark in the ...

and

Gao Ling Gao Ling (; born 14 March 1979) is a Chinese former badminton player. Career Noted for her consistency, anticipation, forecourt prowess, and sporting smile, Gao is one of the most successful doubles players in the history of women's badminton. ...

. They claimed the silver medals at the

2008 Olympic Games 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 Na ...

, having a shocking loss to the world number 10, Lee Yong Dae and Lee Hyo-jung. At the

2009 BWF World Championships The 2009 BWF World Championships was the 17th tournament of the World Badminton Championships, a global tournament in the sport of badminton. It was held at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad, Andhra Pradesh, India, from 10–16 August ...

, they also earned the silver medal, losing to the Danish pair. He was the runner up three times in a row, from 2006 to 2008, at the Japan open. They have been runner up at the All England Championships twice, and probably the narrowest one was at 2010, beaten by future Olympic champion, Zhang Nan and

Zhao Yunlei Zhao Yunlei (born 25 August 1986) is a mixed and women's doubles badminton player from China. She graduated with a BA from Huazhong University of Science and Technology. She is the first and only badminton player to have ever won two gold medals ...

, 18-21 25-23 18-21 in an hour and 31 minutes, considered one of the best mixed doubles game that ever played. Widianto has represented

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 ...

in the Sudirman Cup (combined men's and women's world team championships) five times: 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009.

2004 Summer Olympics

He competed in badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics at the

Goudi Olympic Hall The Badminton Theater ( el, Θέατρο Badminton) is a venue utilized for the staging of medium- and large-scale wikt:multiplex, multiplex events. Situated inside the metropolitan park of Goudi in Athens, Greece, the theater was originally design ...

Athens Athens ( ; el, Αθήνα, Athína ; grc, Ἀθῆναι, Athênai (pl.) ) is both the capital and largest city of Greece. With a population close to four million, it is also the seventh largest city in the European Union. Athens dominates ...

Greece Greece,, or , romanized: ', officially the Hellenic Republic, is a country in Southeast Europe. It is situated on the southern tip of the Balkans, and is located at the crossroads of Europe, Asia, and Africa. Greece shares land borders with ...

, in the mixed doubles with partner

and only reached the quarterfinal, after being defeated in the quarterfinal by the Danish pair.

2008 Summer Olympics

He competed in badminton at the 2008 Summer Olympics as the 1st seed in the mixed doubles with partner Lilyana Natsir and reached the final by beating

He Hanbin He Hanbin (; born 10 January 1986) is a retired badminton player from China. Career A doubles specialist, He won men's doubles at the Austrian International tourney with Guo Zhendong in 2007. Most of his accomplishments, however, have come in ...

and Yu Yang in the semifinal with thrilling scores, 15–21 21–11 23–21. In the final, they were defeated by gold medalists, Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung of

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

in straight sets, 21–11 and 21–17.

Personal life

When he was young, he joined the Tangkas Jakarta badminton club. The parent's names are Santoso (father) and Sutari (mother). His hobby is

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kicking a ball to score a goal. Unqualified, the word ''football'' normally means the form of football that is the most popular where the word is used. Sports commonly c ...

. Normally, people called him Nova or Kedheng. He's married former Indonesian national player Eny Widiowati.

Men's doubles

He also followed some tournaments in men's doubles. He played with Candra Wijaya for a few months, preparing for Thomas Cup event and succeeded to be the runner up of Asian Badminton Championships, lost to Jung Jae Sung and Lee Yong-dae in the final, 21–16 21–18. He also helped Indonesia to claim gold medal in men's team in Southeast Asian Games, partnering with

Muhammad Ahsan Mohammad Ahsan (born 7 September 1987) is an Indonesian badminton player affiliated with PB Djarum, Djarum club who specializes in the men's doubles. He is three-time BWF World Championships, World Champion, three-time season ending BWF World T ...

and beat

Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif Mohd Zakry bin Abdul Latif (born 2 April 1983) is a former Malaysian badminton player. Career 2007 Mohd Zakry played at the 2007 BWF World Championships in men's doubles with Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari. They were seeded #7 and were defeate ...

and

Mohd Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari Muhammad Fairuzizuan Mohd Tazari (born 5 February 1983) is a former male badminton player from Malaysia. Career 2007 Mohd Fairuzizuan played at the 2007 BWF World Championships in men's doubles with Mohd Zakry Abdul Latif. They were seeded # ...

, 21–18 21–17 to give 3–1 win against

Malaysia Malaysia ( ; ) is a country in Southeast Asia. The federation, federal constitutional monarchy consists of States and federal territories of Malaysia, thirteen states and three federal territories, separated by the South China Sea into two r ...

Playing style

His powerful smash and accurate placement on the court have been a crucial part of Nova's game to dominate the mixed doubles and being at the top level. His mental strength and great spirit also become the decisive factor to win the game and somehow manage to be the other source of his power. The other thing is his ability to keep retrieving the shuttle with such tricky technique also able to make his opponent goes into the trouble.

Achievements

Olympic Games

''Mixed doubles''

BWF World Championships

''Mixed doubles''

World Cup

''Mixed doubles''

Asian Games

''Mixed doubles''

Asian Championships

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

Southeast Asian Games

''Mixed doubles''

BWF Superseries (5 titles, 9 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

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 ...

(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. ''Mixed doubles'' :

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 ...

tournament : BWF Superseries Premier 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, ...

tournament

BWF/IBF Grand Prix (7 titles, 11 runners-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. The World Badminton Grand Prix was sanctioned by the International Badminton Federation from 1983 to 2006. ''Mixed doubles'' : BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament : BWF & IBF Grand Prix tournament

IBF International (1 title, 1 runner-up)

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

Performance timeline

Indonesian team

* ''Senior level''

Individual competitions

* ''Senior level''

References

External links