Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (born 2 August 1995) is an Indonesian badminton player who was formerly ranked world number 1 in the men's doubles by the Badminton World Federation.
Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo was born on 2 August 1995 in Banyuwangi, East Java, Indonesia, to parents Sugiarto Sukamuljo and Winartin Niawati of Chinese Indonesians ethnicity.
He is the nephew of former world number 1 men's doubles player, Alvent Yulianto.
Sukamuljo started to learn about badminton at two and a half years, by seeing his father play on the court behind their house.
Noticing young Sukamuljo's interest in badminton, his father then found a coach in Jember at the Putra 46 club to foster his child's talent for a year.
2006
Sukamuljo later entered the Sari Agung club in Banyuwangi and in 2006, at the age of eleven, he won a Graha Bhakti Cup tournament.
Recognizing his talent, Sukamuljo's parents encouraged him to join a bigger club.
He then took part at the general auditions scholarship held by PB Djarum, but failed due to his small physique.
However, he refused to give up, and began training everyday, instead of his usual 4 days a week routine.
2007
He plays for PB Djarum, and has been a member of the club since 2007.
With these additional hours, he finally managed to pass the audition at PB Djarum in 2007.
After joining PB Djarum, Sukamuljo went through defeat after defeat.
At first, Sukamuljo played in the men's singles discipline.
However, he was then turned toward the doubles disciplines, experimenting with both the men's and mixed doubles.
Initially, he and his parents resisted this turn toward specialization in doubles, but men's doubles coach Ade Lukas believed that this was where Sukamuljo's skills and abilities would be best utilized.
After a year of training in doubles, he showed progress and had great expectations going forward.
In January 2022, Sukamuljo revealed his romantic relationship with entrepreneur Valencia Tanoesoedibjo, the second daughter of Indonesian media businessman and politician Hary Tanoesoedibjo, after much speculation from the public from around December 2021.
The two were officially engaged in August 2022, in which Sukamuljo proposed to Tanoesoedibjo at the Jakarta International Stadium.
The couple got married on March 23, 2023 in Paris, France.
Sukamuljo's teammates Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto were present as groomsmen in the ceremony.
In the PB Djarum club, Sukamuljo was trained by Sigit Budiarto.
He won some National Circuit tournaments in his age group with different partners.
2010
In 2010, he won the Kalimantan, North Sulawesi, Pekanbaru, and Jakarta circuits, and also the Candra Wijaya men's doubles championships.
2011
In 2011, he won the Jakarta circuit and Pertamina Open.
He represented Indonesia at the 2011 ASEAN School Games held at the Yio Chu Kang Sports Hall, Singapore, and won a gold in the mixed doubles with Aris Budiharti, and a silver in the boys' doubles with Felix Kinalsal.
In July 2011, just before turning 16, Sukamuljo qualified to compete in the international senior age group, by reaching the finals of the Singapore International Series tournament partnered with Lukhi Apri Nugroho.
He also played at the World Junior Championships held in Taoyuan City, but was eliminated in the quarter-finals in the boys' doubles event with his partner Nugroho.
2012
In 2012, Sukamuljo won the U-19 National tournament the Jakarta Open and West Java circuits, also the Candra Wijaya men's doubles championships.
In July, he won a bronze medal at the Asian Junior Championships in the boys' doubles event with Alfian Eko Prasetya.
He was named as the "future athlete" at the Tangkas Specs Junior Challenge after showing a good performance and finished as runner-up in that tournament.
In August, he was ranked as number 1 in the BWF World Junior Ranking.
In October–November, he competed at the World Junior Championships held in Chiba, Japan, but lost in the early stages of both the boys' and mixed doubles events.
In December, he clinched the boys' doubles title at the Junior National Championships with Rafiddias Akhdan Nugroho.
2013
In 2013, Sukamuljo was selected to join the national men's doubles team squad.
He started the season by competing in Vietnam International Challenge partnered with Rafiddias Akhdan Nugroho, but lost in the quarter-finals to the Hong Kong pair Chan Yun Lung and Wong Wai Hong in a close rubber game.
2015
He also featured in the Indonesia winning team at the SEA Games in 2015; Asia Team Championships in 2018 and 2020; and at the Thomas Cup in 2020.
2017
He won the men's doubles titles at the All England Open in 2017 and 2018; World Superseries Finals in 2017; and at the Asian Games in 2018.
Together with his current partner, Marcus Fernaldi Gideon, they were awarded 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.
Sukamuljo and Gideon 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.
Gillian Clark, a BWF commentator, stated that the fast play shown by Sukamuljo and Gideon have taken the men's doubles game to a new level and makes the matches more exciting to watch.
