The 2025 Victorian Open weekend brought three days of exciting badminton action to Melbourne Sports Centres, with athletes from across Australia and overseas competing in the Open, Para, and Invitational divisions. The tournament once again showcased Victoria’s growing depth of talent and strong international ties across the badminton community.

🏆 Open Division

The Open division delivered some of the most competitive matches of the weekend, with familiar names and new pairings taking centre stage.

In the men’s doubles, Rizky Ismail and Frengky Putra successfully defended their title, claiming back-to-back victories after a thrilling three-game final against Karsten Darma and Michael Owen.

“The secret behind our win is simple — keep training consistently,” said Rizky. “We want to uplift badminton in Australia. Our next goal is to keep pushing each other to maintain our rhythm as partners.”
Frengky added, “The momentum is about support — training hard together and trusting each other on and off the court.”

Adding to the atmosphere of the finals, Don Cory, an Australian and Victorian Champion — and one of Victoria’s all-time badminton legends — joined the men’s doubles final for the official coin toss. Sawan Serasinghe, a 2016 Rio Olympian, and Erin Walklate, a 2008 Beijing Olympian, also took part in the women’s doubles and mixed doubles coin tosses, bringing together past champions and current stars in a celebration of the sport’s legacy.

In the women’s doubles, Angela Yu returned to the winner’s podium after last year’s victory with Gronya Somerville, this time partnering Josephine Wu, a Canadian national player, for a new and dynamic combination.

“It’s nice to win again — and with a new partner,” Angela shared. “It’s been great trying a different style and enjoying the game with Josephine.”

Kyla Legiana Agatha captured the women’s singles title after a composed and determined performance in the final.

“The toughest moment was definitely the final,” Kyla said. “In the second game I tried to be more consistent, focusing on winning one point at a time.”

In the men’s singles, Alvi Wijaya Chairullah celebrated his first Victorian Open crown.

“It was my first Open, and I’m very happy with the result,” he said. “Next year, I want to play in international competitions.”

In mixed doubles, Andika Ramadiansyah and Nozomi Shimizu bounced back from their Sydney Open loss two weeks earlier to claim the title, defeating Frengky Wijaya Putra and Citra Putri Sari Dewi in a strong finish.

“The toughest was the final,” said Andika. “We lost to the same pair at Sydney, so we really prepared for this match.” “Both the semi and final were quite hard,” added Nozomi. “I’m still improving on my emotional and tactical side" Andika continued, “We’re aiming to keep climbing. Hopefully we can reach the top 50 in the world and qualify for the 2028 Olympics in Los Angeles.”

💪 Para Badminton

In the Para events, Qambar Ali Akhteyari continued his remarkable form, defending his title from last year with another strong showing in both singles and doubles. Akhteyari, who recently finished second in the Men’s Singles WH1 category at the YONEX Australian Para Badminton Championships, displayed consistency and control throughout the Victorian Open. Partnering with Brata Widjaja, the pair captured the WH1–WH2 doubles title after navigating a challenging final.

“The toughest part is finding the balance with your partner,” Ali shared. “Sometimes your partner wants to take over, sometimes you do — that’s the challenge.”
“We’ll keep training hard,” added Brata. “Hopefully I can start competing in more international tournaments soon.”

🌟 Junior Invitational

The Victorian Junior Invitational brought together the next generation of talent, with players from across the state and beyond competing across U13 and U15 age groups.
The tournament saw several promising performances, including multiple title wins from Grace Tan and Marcus Shih in the U13 division, and standout results from Alexa Bijomon and Kangchen Zheng in the U15 events.

Congratulations to all players and a huge thank you to our officials, volunteers, and community partners.

This year’s event was proudly presented by Protech, naming rights partner of the Victorian Open. Special thanks also to Beyond Bank and Gumbuya World for supporting the weekend, and to our ongoing community partners Shadowplay by Pepper and AIA for their continued support of badminton in Victoria.