Jakarta. Famous Indonesian men’s doubles pair Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan are planning to run a badminton court business once they hang up their spikes.

The pair is currently competing at the 2025 Indonesia Masters. They snagged a ticket to the Top 16 of  the tournament on Tuesday after defeating 21-19, 22-20 against Taiwanese pair Chiang Chien-Wei/Wu Hsuan-Yi.  Ahsan is currently 37 years old, while his mate and Olympic gold winner Hendra Setiawan is older at 40 years. Together, the pair is known as “The Daddies”. They are the oldest men’s doubles badminton doubles pair by age who are still actively playing to this day.

The 2025 Indonesia Masters will be the Daddies’ last tournament before retirement. But it will not be their last time to be on the badminton court. The three-time world champion pair will still be on the badminton court as businessmen.

The pair spoke to reporters after beating Chiang Chien-Wei/Wu Hsuan-Yi that day. The Daddies, who paired up in 2012, said that they were already past their peak performance due to their age, hence the retirement. Aside from raising kids, running a badminton court facility in Jakarta’s township Bumi Serpong Damai (BSD) is high on their post-retirement plan.

“Just like Hendra, I will take my kids to school after retiring. … And yes, Hendra and I will open up a badminton court facility in BSD,”Ahsan said.

The Daddies’ career highs include winning the World Championships in 2013, 2015, and 2019. They won the All England twice, and also came first at the BWF Superseries Finals. The pair had previously been dropping hints of retirement. Despite their age, they are still playing at top competitions. Their juniors Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, who were also world’s number one, had even quit playing before the Daddies. In 2008, Hendra also bagged Indonesia’s first gold Olympics medal for men’s doubles when pairing with the late Markis Kido.

Indonesia has won gold in all badminton disciplines in the Olympic Games. Some badminton players have also started their own business, both before and after retirement. Indonesian badminton legends and couple Susi Susanti-Alan Budikusuma founded sporting goods brand Astec in 2002. Kevin Sukamuljo tried to get into the culinary business with milk brand Vinion when he was still an athlete.