Marcus Fernaldi Gideon facts for kids

Quick facts for kids Marcus Fernaldi Gideon
Gideon at the 2017 All England Open
Personal information
Born	(1991-03-09) 9 March 1991 (age 34) Jakarta, Indonesia
Residence	Jakarta, Indonesia
Height	1.68 m (5 ft 6 in)
Country	Indonesia
Years active	2010–2024
Handedness	Right
Men's doubles
Highest Ranking	1

Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (born on March 9, 1991) is a former badminton player from Indonesia. He was once ranked the world's number one men's doubles player. He achieved this amazing feat with his partner, Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo.

Marcus played for the PB Jaya Raya club. He and Kevin were known as "the Minions." This nickname came from their shorter height and their super-fast, bouncy playing style. It reminded people of the characters from the movie Despicable Me. A badminton commentator, Gillian Clark, even said their quick play made men's doubles matches much more exciting to watch.

Marcus and Kevin were named the BWF Best Male Players of the Year two times in a row. They won many titles, including seven Superseries titles in 2017 and eight World Tour titles in 2018. They also won the famous All England Open two times in a row.

Marcus's Badminton Journey

Starting Young

Marcus Gideon began playing badminton at the Tangkas Jakarta club when he was just 9 years old. By age 13, he started playing professionally. He even received a scholarship to study in Singapore.

However, he returned to Indonesia after four months due to illness. He decided to continue his training with his father. Marcus won his first international title in singles at the Victorian International event.

Early Career and First Big Win

In 2010, Marcus joined the national training center in Indonesia. He played men's doubles with Agripina Prima Rahmanto Putra. They won tournaments in Singapore in 2011 and Iran in 2012.

In 2013, Marcus left the national training center. He then teamed up with Markis Kido, who was a gold medalist from the 2008 Beijing Olympics. Together, they won their first big title, a Superseries event, at the French Open in 2013. They also won the Indonesia Masters in 2014.

The "Minions" Partnership Begins

In 2015, Marcus was asked to rejoin the national team. This is when he started playing with Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo. Their new partnership quickly became successful. They reached the quarter-finals at the All England Open and the semi-finals at the Swiss Open.

In June 2015, Marcus helped the Indonesian team win a gold medal at the SEA Games in Singapore. He and Kevin also won a silver medal in the men's doubles event there.

Later in 2015, Marcus and Kevin reached the finals of the Chinese Taipei Open. It was after this tournament that fans started calling them "the Minions." They won their first title together at the Chinese Taipei Masters in October. By the end of 2015, they were ranked 16th in the world.

Rising to the Top

Marcus and Kevin continued to improve in 2016. They won the Malaysia Masters, and then two Superseries titles in India and Australia. They also won the Superseries Premier title in China.

By the end of 2016, they were ranked number 2 in the world. They also qualified for the BWF Superseries Finals in Dubai.

World Number 1 in 2017

Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo won the 2017 All England Open

In 2017, Marcus and Kevin started the year strong. They won the prestigious All England Open in March. This victory made them the number one men's doubles pair in the world!

They continued their winning streak by taking titles at the India Open and Malaysia Open. In September, they won the Japan Open. They also won the China Open and the Hong Kong Open in November. This was their sixth Superseries win of the season, matching a record.

For their amazing achievements, Marcus and Kevin were named the Best Male Players of the Year by the Badminton World Federation. They finished 2017 by winning the Dubai World Superseries Finals. This made them the first men's doubles pair to win seven Superseries titles in one year.

Asian Games Gold in 2018

In 2018, Marcus and Kevin continued their dominance. They won the Indonesia Masters, All England Open, and India Open. They also won the Indonesia Open in July.

Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta

Marcus competed at the 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta. He won a silver medal with the men's team. Then, he and Kevin won the gold medal in men's doubles. They beat their fellow Indonesian teammates in a very close final match.

They also won the Japan Open, Denmark Open, Fuzhou China Open, and Hong Kong Open in 2018. Their eight World Tour titles in one season set a new record for men's doubles. They were again named the BWF Best Male Players of the Year.

More World Tour Titles in 2019

Marcus and Kevin started 2019 by winning the Malaysia Masters and Indonesia Masters. They reached the finals of the Asian Championships but lost to a Japanese pair.

In the second half of 2019, they won many more titles. These included the Indonesia Open, Japan Open, China Open, Denmark Open, French Open, and Fuzhou China Open. They ended 2019 with eight World Tour titles.

Thomas Cup Champions in 2020-2021

In 2020, Marcus and Kevin won their fourth Indonesia Masters title. In February, Marcus helped the Indonesian men's team win the Asia Team Championships. They also reached the final of the All England Open.

In 2021, Marcus and Kevin competed at the 2020 Summer Olympics. They reached the quarter-finals.

In September and October 2021, Marcus helped the Indonesian team win the 2020 Thomas Cup. This made them world men's team champions! They also won the Hylo Open, and the Indonesia Open for the third time in a row. They reached the final of the BWF World Tour Finals.

Later Career and Retirement

In 2022, Marcus had surgery on his ankles. He returned to play in June, reaching the semi-finals of the Indonesia Masters. He and Kevin also finished as runners-up at the Denmark Open.

In 2023, Marcus and Kevin continued to compete, but Marcus faced more injuries. Their partnership ended after eight years. Marcus needed more surgery on his right leg.

On March 9, 2024, Marcus Fernaldi Gideon officially announced his retirement from professional badminton. He shared that he wanted to spend more time with his family and coach alongside his father.

Personal Life

Marcus's father, Kurniahu, was also a national badminton player and now coaches at Marcus's badminton academy. Marcus married Agnes Amelinda Mulyadi, a doctor, on April 14, 2018. Their first son, Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Jr., was born in January 2019.

Awards and Recognitions

Marcus Fernaldi Gideon received several awards for his outstanding performance in badminton:

Major Achievements

Here are some of Marcus Fernaldi Gideon's biggest wins and achievements:

Asian Games

Gideon and Sukamuljo warmed up before the 2018 Asian Games final

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2018	Istora Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, Indonesia	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Fajar Alfian Muhammad Rian Ardianto	13–21, 21–18, 24–22	Gold

Asian Championships

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2019	Wuhan Sports Center Gymnasium, Wuhan, China	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Hiroyuki Endo Yuta Watanabe	18–21, 3–21	Silver

SEA Games

Men's doubles

Year	Venue	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2015	Singapore Indoor Stadium, Singapore	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Angga Pratama Ricky Karanda Suwardi	12–21, 22–24	Silver

BWF World Tour Titles

The BWF World Tour is a series of top badminton tournaments around the world. Marcus and Kevin won many of these:

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2018	Indonesia Masters	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Li Junhui Liu Yuchen	11–21, 21–10, 21–16	Winner
2018	India Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Kim Astrup Anders Skaarup Rasmussen	21–14, 21–16	Winner
2018	All England Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen	21–18, 21–17	Winner
2018	Indonesia Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Takuto Inoue Yuki Kaneko	21–13, 21–16	Winner
2018	Japan Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Li Junhui Liu Yuchen	21–11, 21–13	Winner
2018	Denmark Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Takeshi Kamura Keigo Sonoda	21–15, 21–16	Winner
2018	French Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Han Chengkai Zhou Haodong	21–23, 21–8, 17–21	Runner-up
2018	Fuzhou China Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	He Jiting Tan Qiang	25–27, 21–17, 21–15	Winner
2018	Hong Kong Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Takeshi Kamura Keigo Sonoda	21–13, 21–12	Winner
2019	Malaysia Masters	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Ong Yew Sin Teo Ee Yi	21–15, 21–16	Winner
2019	Indonesia Masters	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Mohammad Ahsan Hendra Setiawan	21–17, 21–11	Winner
2019	Indonesia Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Mohammad Ahsan Hendra Setiawan	21–19, 21–16	Winner
2019	Japan Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Mohammad Ahsan Hendra Setiawan	21–18, 23–21	Winner
2019	China Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Mohammad Ahsan Hendra Setiawan	21–18, 17–21, 21–15	Winner
2019	Denmark Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Mohammad Ahsan Hendra Setiawan	21–14, 21–13	Winner
2019	French Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Satwiksairaj Rankireddy Chirag Shetty	21–18, 21–16	Winner
2019	Fuzhou China Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Takeshi Kamura Keigo Sonoda	21–17, 21–9	Winner
2020	Indonesia Masters	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Mohammad Ahsan Hendra Setiawan	21–15, 21–16	Winner
2020	All England Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Hiroyuki Endo Yuta Watanabe	18–21, 21–12, 19–21	Runner-up
2021	French Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Ko Sung-hyun Shin Baek-cheol	17–21, 20–22	Runner-up
2021	Hylo Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Leo Rolly Carnando Daniel Marthin	21–14, 21–19	Winner
2021	Indonesia Masters	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Takuro Hoki Yugo Kobayashi	11–21, 21–17, 19–21	Runner-up
2021	Indonesia Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Takuro Hoki Yugo Kobayashi	21–14, 21–18	Winner
2021	BWF World Tour Finals	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Takuro Hoki Yugo Kobayashi	16–21, 21–13, 17–21	Runner-up
2022	Denmark Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Fajar Alfian Muhammad Rian Ardianto	19–21, 26–28	Runner-up

BWF Superseries Titles

The BWF Superseries was another series of elite badminton tournaments. Marcus won many of these too:

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2013	French Open	Markis Kido	Koo Kien Keat Tan Boon Heong	21–16, 21–18	Winner
2016	India Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Angga Pratama Ricky Karanda Suwardi	21–17, 21–13	Winner
2016	Australian Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Angga Pratama Ricky Karanda Suwardi	21–14, 21–15	Winner
2016	China Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen	21–18, 22–20	Winner
2017	All England Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Li Junhui Liu Yuchen	21–19, 21–14	Winner
2017	India Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Angga Pratama Ricky Karanda Suwardi	21–11, 21–15	Winner
2017	Malaysia Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Fu Haifeng Zheng Siwei	21–14, 14–21, 21–12	Winner
2017	Korea Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen	19–21, 21–19, 15–21	Runner-up
2017	Japan Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Takuto Inoue Yuki Kaneko	21–12, 21–15	Winner
2017	Denmark Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Liu Cheng Zhang Nan	16–21, 24–22, 19–21	Runner-up
2017	China Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Mathias Boe Carsten Mogensen	21–19, 21–11	Winner
2017	Hong Kong Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Mads Conrad-Petersen Mads Pieler Kolding	21–12, 21–18	Winner
2017	Dubai World Superseries Finals	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Liu Cheng Zhang Nan	21–16, 21–15	Winner

     BWF World Superseries Finals tournament

     BWF Superseries Premier tournament

     BWF Superseries tournament

BWF Grand Prix Titles

The BWF Grand Prix was another series of badminton tournaments.

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2014	Indonesian Masters	Markis Kido	Selvanus Geh Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	21–17, 20–22, 21–14	Winner
2015	Chinese Taipei Open	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Fu Haifeng Zhang Nan	13–21, 8–21	Runner-up
2015	Chinese Taipei Masters	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Hoon Thien How Lim Khim Wah	21–12, 21–8	Winner
2016	Malaysia Masters	Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	Koo Kien Keat Tan Boon Heong	18–21, 21–13, 21–18	Winner

     BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament

     BWF Grand Prix tournament

Other International Titles

Marcus also won titles in other international badminton events:

Men's singles

Year	Tournament	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2009	Victorian International	Joe Wu	17–21, 21–8, 21–15	Winner

Men's doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2011	Singapore International	Agripina Prima Rahmanto Putra	Lukhi Apri Nugroho Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo	21–17, 21–9	Winner
2012	Iran Fajr International	Agripina Prima Rahmanto Putra	Tarun Kona Arun Vishnu	21–18, 21–18	Winner
2012	Vietnam International	Agripina Prima Rahmanto Putra	Ricky Karanda Suwardi Muhammad Ulinnuha	12–21, 19–21	Runner-up
2012	Osaka International	Agripina Prima Rahmanto Putra	Takeshi Kamura Keigo Sonoda	17–21, 23–21, 18–21	Runner-up

Mixed doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2014	Turkey International	Gabriela Stoeva	Jones Ralfy Jansen Cisita Joity Jansen	21–17, 17–21, 12–21	Runner-up

     BWF International Challenge tournament

     BWF International Series tournament

     BWF Future Series tournament

BWF Junior International

Boys' doubles

Year	Tournament	Partner	Opponent	Score	Result	Ref
2007	Cheers Youth International	Nandang Arif Saputra	Riky Widianto Chayut Triyachart	8–21, 18–21	Runner-up

     BWF Junior International Grand Prix tournament

     BWF Junior International Challenge tournament

     BWF Junior International Series tournament

     BWF Junior Future Series tournament

Record Against Top Opponents

Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo had a great record against many top pairs. For example, they won all 11 matches against Satwiksairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty from India. They also had a strong lead against Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen of China, and their older teammates Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan.

However, they found it harder to win against some pairs. They had a tough time against Liang Weikeng and Wang Chang (0 wins, 4 losses), Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe (2 wins, 6 losses), Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Yeon-seong (0 wins, 3 losses), and Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan (1 win, 3 losses).