BEST OF ASIA'S JUNIORS: STEPHANIE WIDJAJA (INDONESIA)
Born in Jakarta, the 17-year-old is an Indonesian player, who is currently ranked #7 in BWF’s World Junior Ranking in Women’s Singles. She currently has 72 career wins, a number that is very impressive and will undoubtedly rise as she goes on to the path to become Indonesia’s rising star!
She’s always wanted to be a badminton player since she was young. In an interview, she says that she wanted to play after she saw her sister play badminton and wanted to follow in her footsteps. And so she did! Badminton became a hobby but she’s also been playing badminton seriously since her first year of middle school and has continued since then.
Around the same time, she joined the club “Jaya Raya Jakarta” where to this day she is still an active member of the club. In 2019 she participated in several tournaments including reaching the quarter finals of the World Junior Championships, the quarter finals of the Jakarta Junior International Series, the semi-finals of the Dutch Junior International and so many more.
But in 2020, we saw her soar even further. At the German Junior, she reached the finals and won a silver medal! She was runner-up to Japanese player, Manami Suizu. Not only is she a singles player, but she also plays doubles with Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo.
Stephanie dreams of playing badminton on the world stage. Her badminton idols include Indonesian legend Susi Susanti and also Tai Tzu Ying. We hope that one day she will accomplish the same and even greater achievements as them! We are rooting for you Stephanie!
