Marcus Fernaldi Gideon

Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (born 9 March 1991) is an Indonesian professional badminton player currently ranked world No. 1 in the men's doubles by the Badminton World Federation. He plays for PB Jaya Raya, and has joined the club since June 2018. He won the 2017 All England Open with his current partner Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo. He and Sukamuljo were recognized as one of the most outstanding players, and awarded as the BWF Best Male Players of the Year for two years in a row after collecting seven Superseries titles in 2017 and eight World Tour titles in 2018.
Gideon and Sukamuljo are often referred to as "the Minions" because of their below average height and for their fast and agile playing style, jumping and bouncing just like the Minions in the film Despicable Me. BWF commentator, Gillian Clark stated that the fast play shown by Gideon and Sukamuljo have taken the men's doubles game to a new level and makes the matches exciting to watch.
Career.
Gideon started his career in badminton at the Tangkas Jakarta club when he was 9 years old. At the age of 13, he began playing professionally, and at the same time, he received a scholarship in Singapore. Four months later in Singapore, he returned to Indonesia because of illness, and decided not to continue his education abroad. He was again trained by his father, as a singles and doubles player. Gideon won his first international title in the men's singles discipline at the Victorian International a Future Series event.
Gideon was selected to join the national training centre in Cipayung, in the men's doubles team in 2010. Partnered with Agripina Prima Rahmanto, he won the 2011 Singapore and 2012 Iran International tournaments, and also finished as the runners-up in 2012 Vietnam and Osaka International. Feeling disappointed with the PBSI decision in the sending players to the international tournaments, Gideon decided to leave the national training centre in 2013.
Gideon then returned to the court as an independent player paired with the Beijing 2008 gold medalist, Markis Kido. The duo reached the semifinals at the 2013 Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold losing to national players Ronald Alexander and Selvanus Geh in straight games. He captured his first Superseries title at the 2013 French Open with Kido, played from the qualification stage, and beat the seeded pairs in their journey to reach the men's doubles podium. Gideon and Kido, reached the semifinals at the 2014 All England Open, and then won their second title at the 2014 Indonesia Masters defeating Selvanus Geh and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in the final with the rubber games.
Seeing his achievements with Markis Kido, Gideon was invited by PBSI to rejoin the national team. In early 2015, he was paired with Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, ending the years by occupying the top 20 BWF World Ranking, grabbing one title at the Chinese Taipei Masters. At the Chinese Taipei Open in July, Gideon and Sukamuljo reached the final by defeating then World Champions Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, but they failed to take the title, losing the final tamely to Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan. After this tournament, Indonesian badminton fans dub them as "the Minions" because of their below average height and for their fast and agile playing style, jumping and bouncing just like the Minions in the film Despicable Me. The former badminton player who is currently a BWF commentator, Gillian Clark, also highlighted that the fast play shown by Gideon and Sukamuljo have taken the men's doubles game to a new level and makes the matches exciting to watch. Gideon also participated at the Southeast Asian Games, clinched the gold medal in the men's team event and a silver medal in the men's doubles event. 
Gideon and Sukamuljo started their 2016 tour by winning the Malaysia Masters, their performance continued to improve and they won the Superseries title in India and Australia, followed by the Superseries Premier title in China. At the end of 2016, he and Sukamuljo reached the top 10 world ranking, and qualified to compete at the BWF Superseries Finals held in Dubai. The duo failed to advance to the knock out stage after standing in the third position in the group stage, having won a match against their compatriots Angga Pratama and Ricky Karanda Suwardi, and losing two matches to Danish and Japanese pairs.
In 2019, Gideon and Sukamuljo were nominated for the Best Male Player award, but failed to retain the award after being defeated by Kento Momota.
Personal life.
Gideon is the son of former national badminton player, Kurniahu. He married a general practitioner, Agnes Amelinda Mulyadi on 14 April 2018. His first son Marcus Fernaldi Gideon Jr. was born in January 2019.
Achievements.
Asian Games.
"Men's doubles"
Asian Championships.
"Men's doubles"
Southeast Asian Games.
"Men's doubles"
BWF World Tour (17 titles, 2 runners-up).
The BWF World Tour, which was announced on 19 March 2017 and implemented in 2018, is a series of elite badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). The BWF World Tours are divided into levels of World Tour Finals, Super 1000, Super 750, Super 500, Super 300 (part of the HSBC World Tour), and the BWF Tour Super 100.
"Men's doubles"
BWF Superseries (11 titles, 2 runners-up).
The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries levels are Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consists of twelve tournaments around the world that have been introduced since 2011. Successful players are invited to the Superseries Finals, which are held at the end of each year.
"Men's doubles"
BWF Grand Prix (3 titles, 1 runner-up).
The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the Badminton World Federation (BWF) which was held from 2007 to 2017.
"Men's doubles"
BWF International Challenge/Series (3 titles, 3 runners-up).
"Men's singles"
"Men's doubles"
"Mixed doubles"
Record against selected opponents.
Record against year-end Finals finalists, World Championships semi-finalists, and Olympic quarter-finalists.
Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo.
Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo have ten winning streaks in the head-to-head record against Takuro Hoki and Yugo Kobayashi. They also lead the meeting record with a wide margin against Li Junhui and Liu Yuchen of China and their senior compatriots Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan. Meanwhile, Sukamuljo and Gideon have a poor head-to-head record against Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe (2–6), Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Yeon-seong (0–3), and also Fu Haifeng and Zhang Nan (1–3).