Jakarta. Legendary Indonesian men’s doubles pair Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan officially retired after losing the 2025 Indonesia Masters on Thursday.

The pair, popularly known as “The Daddies”, lost to Malaysia’s Junaidi Arif/Roy King Yap 13-21, 14-21 in the tournament’s top 16 match at Jakarta's Istora Senayan. And so the curtain finally came down on Hendra/Ahsan’s professional badminton career. As soon as the match ended, the audience immediately held a standing ovation to pay tribute to the men’s doubles legend. Their loud cheers echoed all over the area, thanking the Daddies for making Indonesia proud. 

Hendra/Ahsan first paired up in 2012, although they split up in 2016 before getting back together in 2018. Throughout all those years, the Daddies -- a nickname which they earned because of their age and father status -- had registered a series of achievements. After more than a decade together, the Daddies finally hung up their spikes. 

“If you ask me about my biggest regret, it would be that Ahsan and I have never won an Olympic medal together,” the 40-year-old Hendra told reporters in Jakarta later that day.

Hendra was an Olympic gold medalist for men’s doubles in 2008. The late Markis Kido was his partner at the time. Despite never winning the Olympics together, Hendra-Ahsan had made many remarkable accomplishments. They won the World Championships thrice in 2013, 2015, and 2019. They claimed the All England trophy twice, and also won the BWF Super Series Finals.

Ahsan, who appeared to be holding back his tears at the beginning of the presser, said that the moments of entering the arena would be something that he would miss post-retirement. The 37-year-old father also cracked some light-hearted jokes in their final post-match press briefing.

“I thought yesterday [was supposed to be] our last match. It turns out we have to bid our farewell today,” Ahsan said, alluding to their victory against Taiwanese pair  Chiang Chien-Wei/Wu Hsuan-Yi on Tuesday.

He added: “I will definitely miss those moments of stepping into the badminton court, the atmosphere, and eating together with friends. Those memories will be something that will linger in my mind."

Earlier that day, their men’s doubles juniors Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto also spoke highly of the Daddies. Fajar sees the Daddies as people who are highly dedicated to their jobs, but at the same time keep a low profile and are far from arrogant. 

“They are very relaxed, but fierce [in court],” Fajar said.

Rian said that Hendra/Ahsan were badminton players that athletes would look up to, adding that they were “highly disciplined”.

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