AHSAN Mohammad

General
DOUBLES PARTNER
He first joined forces with men's doubles partner Hendra Setiawan in 2012. The pair won men's doubles gold at the 2013 and 2015 world championships but parted ways following the 2016 Olympic Games in Rio de Janeiro. They then teamed up again two years later and won gold at the 2019 World Championships in Basel, Switzerland. Previously Ahsan was teamed with Bona Septano, and the pair competed at the 2012 Olympic Games in London. "Bona is a great player, but together we were unable to achieve, so we parted ways. I had known Hendra before we were paired, so it was not an awkward beginning. I had asked him for advice since he was my senior. I became more calm playing with Hendra. I could see the maturity in his play. We became world champions in 2013 a year after we had started playing together. In 2018, when Hendra re-entered national training again, there was another discussion about whether we should pair up again and I was happy for us to do so, because even though it had been a long time since we had last played doubles, we still have a strong belief. We always give each other input and feedback, not in an offensive way, but to support each other to improve." The pair are nicknamed 'The Daddies', as they are both fathers and senior members of the national team. (SportsDeskOnline, 24 Jun 2021; victorsport.com, 01 Jan 2021; BWF Facebook profile, 26 Jul 2020; cnnindonesia.com, 16 Sep 2019; viva.co.id, 29 Aug 2019)

EARLY DAYS
In 2001 he left his home town of Palembang at age 13 to attend Ragunan Sports School in Jakarta to pursue a career in badminton. "When I was age 13, my club in Palembang was closed. I had the thought of quitting or switching to a different sport, but then there was a national selection event at Ragunan Sports School in Jakarta. I left for Jakarta but it wasn't easy. I cried a lot in my early days as I believed that everyone had better skills, but my seniors were nice and tried to calm me down. Then, there was a programme change and the school said they were only focusing on the women's singles for the national team selection, so I decided to move again and join Bina Bangsa Badminton Club before settling with Djarum a few years later. For me, attending Ragunan Sports School was one of the toughest times of my life. I had no achievements, no income, I was uncertain about my future, and I think most Indonesian players have gone through the same thing. If you want to achieve, you have to earn it." (cnnindonesia.com, 16 Sep 2019)

OTHER ACTIVITIES
He has worked as a civil servant for the Ministry of Youth and Sports in Indonesia. He and his wife have also ran a property leasing business in Bogor, Indonesia. (kompas.com, 02 Aug 2020; kemenpora.go.id, 08 Jan 2020; Blibli.com YouTube channel, 10 Jul 2019; sport.tempo.co, 17 Jan 2018)