Sony Dwi Kuncoro

Personal life

When he was young, he joined the Suryanaga Surabaya badminton club. Currently, he joins the Tjakrindo Masters badminton club in Surabaya. His parents are Moch. Sumadji (father) and Asmiati (mother). His hobbies are fixing automobiles and hanging-out or travelling. Generally people call him Sony, which can also be spelled as Soni. He married to Gading Safitri on 24 July 2009, who is also becoming his coach and manager.

2004 Summer Olympics

Kuncoro played badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics in men's singles, defeating M. Roslin Hashim of Malaysia and Jim Ronny Andersen of Norway in the first two rounds. In the quarterfinals, Kuncoro defeated Park Tae-sang of Korea 15–13, 15–4. Kuncoro advanced to the semifinals, in which he lost to Shon Seung-mo of Korea 15–6, 9–15, 15–9. Playing in the bronze medal match, he defeated Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand by a score of 15–11, 17–16 for the bronze medal.

2007 BWF World Championships

He became runner up at the 2007 IBF World Championships after losing to Lin Dan in straight sets with score 11–21 20–22 in Putra Stadium, Bukit Jalil, Malaysia.But, in his road through the final, he defeated Lee Chong Wei in the third round 21–9 21–11, Peter Gade in the quarter final, 22–20 21–18. He also beat Chen Yu in the semifinal in 3 tough games.

2009 BWF World Championships

He was bronze medalist at the 2009 BWF World Championships, again losing to Lin Dan, but this time with 3 sets, 16–21 21–14 15–21. En route to the semi, he beat Lee Chong Wei (world number one) in the quarter finals with 21–16 14–21 21–12.

Other achievements

He was also the runner up in World Junior Championships in 2000, defeated by Bao Chunlai. He also had good result in Asian Badminton Championships, with three titles. On September 23, 2007, Sony won the Chinese Taipei Open Grand Prix Gold after beating Taufik Hidayat in the final round by 18–21, 21–6, 21–13. Sony has also won the men's singles gold medal twice at the Southeast Asian Games (2003, 2005). At the SEA Games in 2007 and 2009, Sony helped the Indonesia win gold at the men's team event. In June 2008, Sony won the Indonesia Open Superseries after beating Simon Santoso in the final round by scores of 19–21, 21–14, 21–9 in Istora Senayan, Jakarta. In September 2008 Sony won the Japan Open Superseries after beating Lee Chong Wei from Malaysia in straight sets 21–17, 21–11 in the final round. Also in September 2008 he captured the China Masters Superseries by beating China's Chen Jin 21–19, 21–18 in the final, thus becoming the first player to win men's singles at three consecutive "superseries" tournaments.

In 2009, his best performance in Superseries was being the semifinalist in Indonesia Open Superseries, beaten by Taufik Hidayat, 17–21 14–21 and in Denmark Open Superseries by Marc Zwiebler of Germany with three tough games. In December, once again he helped Indonesia to be the best in Southeast Asian Games, beating Malaysia in the men teams final. He also finished second in the individual event, beaten by his teammate Simon Santoso.

In 2012, he won the Men's Singles title in Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold after defeat China's Chen Yuekun in straight games, 21–17, 21–14. In the semi final, he beat the first seed from China, Lin Dan also in straight games, 21–17, 21–16.

In 2013, he started the year by becoming the semifinalist in 2013 Korea Open Superseries Premier, beaten by Du Pengyu, 12–21 17–21 and in 2013 Indonesian Masters Grand Prix Gold, giving walkover to Dionysius Hayom Rumbaka. He became the finalist in 2013 Malaysia Open Superseries, beaten by Lee Chong Wei, 7–21 8–21 and in 2013 Hong Kong Open Superseries, again beaten by Lee Chong Wei, 13–21 9–21.

In 2015, his best performance was being the champion at 2015 Chinese Taipei Masters Grand Prix after beating Wang Tzu-wei of Chinese Taipei with score 21–13 21–15. He also won the 2015 Indonesia International Challenge after defeat the Korean young blood Jeon Hyeok-jin with straight games 22–20, 21–15.

In 2016, he advanced to the main round of the 2016 Singapore Open Superseries after winning the qualification rounds. He later won the event after beating China's Lin Dan in the semi-final with score 21–10 17–21 22–20, then South Korea's Son Wan-ho in the final with 21–16 13–21 21–14. This is his first Superseries title win in six years. He last tasted success at this level on the same stage at the 2010 Singapore Open. The victory is proof that he has still got it. It’s a reward for his hard work as an independent shuttler after kicked out of the national training camp in mid-2014 because of injuries to his back, waist and wrist over the years.

Olympic Games

2008 Summer Olympics in Beijing, China

Kuncoro competed in badminton at the 2008 Summer Olympics – Men's singles but he was eliminated in the quarterfinal.

2004 Summer Olympics in Athens, Greece

Kuncoro competed in badminton at the 2004 Summer Olympics – Men's singles and won the bronze medal.

BWF World Championships (0 gold, 1 silver, 1 bronze)

2009 BWF World Championships at the Gachibowli Indoor Stadium in Hyderabad, India

2007 BWF World Championships at the Putra Indoor Stadium in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia

BWF Superseries (5 titles, 2 runners-up)

The BWF Superseries, launched on December 14, 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF). BWF Superseries has two level such as Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries features twelve tournaments around the world, which introduced since 2011, with successful players invited to the BWF Superseries Finals held at the year end.

     Superseries tournament     Superseries Premier tournament     Superseries Finals tournament

BWF Grand Prix (4 titles, 2 runners-up)

The BWF Grand Prix has two level such as Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold. It is a series of badminton tournaments, sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) since 2007.

     Grand Prix Gold tournament     Grand Prix tournament

BWF International Challenge/Series

     BWF International Challenge tournament     BWF International Series tournament

Participation at Indonesian team

4 times at Sudirman Cup (2003, 2005, 2007, 2009)

4 times at Thomas Cup (2002,2004, 2006, 2008, 2010)

2 times at Olympic Games in individual event (2004, 2008)

Record against selected opponents

Head to head (H2H) against BWF Superseries finalists, World Championships semifinalists, and Olympic quarterfinalists.