The draw in Nagoya
Padel made its Asian Games debut on Monday 28 September 2026 at the Nagoya City Higashi Sports Center, with athletes from 13 nations competing. The men's draw featured 20 pairs and the women's draw 23 pairs.
Indonesia entered two pairs in each event, meaning all eight athletes from the July squad took to the court. In the women's event, Novela Putria and Beatrice Gumulya were seeded third and Fadona Kusumawati and Fitriani Sabatini were seeded seventh. In the men's event, Valentinus Dyas and Armando Soemarno were seeded eighth and Giorgio Soemarno and Alvin Edison eleventh. Japan's Chifumi Sato and Kotomi Ozawa led the women's seedings, with compatriots Saki Tsukamoto and Kae Tokumoto seeded second.
Men's event: lessons on debut
Indonesia's men were handed a tough introduction. On the opening day, Giorgio Soemarno and Alvin Edison were beaten 6-1 6-4 in the round of 32 by the Philippines' Jason Lapidus and Argil Canizares.
On Wednesday 30 September, Valentinus Dyas and Armando Soemarno, playing their first match after a first-round bye, lost 6-3 6-4 in the round of 16 to host-nation pair Teruaki Ando and Shinnosuke Nakamura of Japan. The Japanese pair were themselves eliminated by Iran in the quarter-finals.
Women's round of 16: a flying start
The women's campaign could hardly have begun better. On Tuesday 29 September, Kusumawati and Sabatini dropped just one game against Kuwait's Alsarraj and Alqenaei, winning 6-1 6-0 to reach the quarter-finals.
A day later, Putria and Gumulya followed them through with a 6-3 6-1 win over Iran's Sahabeh Fard and Zahra Kahrizi, setting up a quarter-final against Hong Kong's Chan and Law, who had come through a three-set battle against the Philippines.
Quarter-finals: a medal secured
Thursday 1 October delivered the result of the tournament for Indonesia. Kusumawati and Sabatini produced a stunning performance against the top seeds and home favourites Sato and Ozawa, winning 6-0 6-1 in front of the Japanese crowd.
Putria and Gumulya then sealed Indonesia's place in history, beating Chan and Law of Hong Kong 6-1 6-2. With both pairs in the semi-finals, Indonesia was guaranteed at least one medal in padel's Asian Games debut. Only Iran, in the men's event, matched the feat of placing two pairs in the last four.
Speaking to the FIP after the quarter-final, Beatrice Gumulya said the team was proud to be part of padel's Asian Games debut and that, having secured a medal, they now wanted to make the country even prouder.
Semi-finals: one into the final, one to the bronze match
On Friday 2 October, Kusumawati and Sabatini continued their remarkable run, beating the Philippines' Danna Abad and Joshea Malazarte 6-0 6-0 to reach the gold-medal match. Across their three matches to that point, the pair had conceded only two games.
Putria and Gumulya came up against the second seeds Tsukamoto and Tokumoto, who had won the inaugural FIP Asia Padel Cup less than a year earlier. The Japanese pair prevailed 6-1 6-3, sending the Indonesians into the bronze-medal match against Abad and Malazarte.
That left Indonesia with two medal matches on the final day: Kusumawati and Sabatini against Tsukamoto and Tokumoto for gold, and Putria and Gumulya against Abad and Malazarte for bronze.
Indonesia's results at a glance
Women's pairs, Kusumawati/Sabatini: round of 32 bye; round of 16 bt Alsarraj/Alqenaei (Kuwait) 6-1 6-0; quarter-final bt Sato/Ozawa (Japan) 6-0 6-1; semi-final bt Abad/Malazarte (Philippines) 6-0 6-0.
Women's pairs, Putria/Gumulya: round of 32 bye; round of 16 bt Fard/Kahrizi (Iran) 6-3 6-1; quarter-final bt Chan/Law (Hong Kong) 6-1 6-2; semi-final lost to Tsukamoto/Tokumoto (Japan) 1-6 3-6.
Men's pairs, Valentinus/A. Soemarno: round of 32 bye; round of 16 lost to Ando/Nakamura (Japan) 3-6 4-6.
Men's pairs, G. Soemarno/Edison: round of 32 lost to Lapidus/Canizares (Philippines) 1-6 4-6.
This is the second part of PBPI's three-part series on Indonesia's Asian Games padel campaign.
