Badminton: ‘We’re like brothers’ – Singapore’s world No. 1 junior doubles duo eye more milestones

SINGAPORE – Johann Prajogo knows his badminton doubles partner Nge Joo Jie almost better than Nge knows himself.

Prajogo can recite Nge’s mobile phone number, NRIC number, the precise name of his course at Republic Polytechnic – something Nge cannot – and jokes about his aversion to vegetables.

Nge, meanwhile, talks about Prajogo’s dislike for gassy drinks and occasionally also finishes his fellow 18-year-old’s sentences.

Such a close bond is unsurprising, though. The duo were roommates and teammates at the Singapore Sports School for three years and doubles partners since they were 15.

Speaking to The Straits Times after a training session on Wednesday, Nge, a Year 2 student, said: “We’re very close, he’s like my brother from another mother. Growing up, we spent a lot of time together – 24 hours, five days a week in school – so we know a lot about each other.”

Prajogo, a Year 2 business studies student in entrepreneurship management at Ngee Ann Polytechnic, added: “We know each other’s struggles. We performed well in sports but struggled in our studies. It was easier because we had each other, so we could manage training and studies to improve together.”

Three years after debuting as a pair, Nge and Prajogo, 1.76m and 1.95m respectively, clinched their biggest achievement yet – becoming junior men’s doubles world No. 1s – before they move up to the senior circuit in 2023.

In the latest Badminton World Federation rankings released on Tuesday, the Singaporeans climbed two spots to overtake Indonesia’s Muh Putra Erwiansyah and Patra Harapan Rindorindo.

Prajogo had checked the list while having breakfast on Tuesday after he remembered their team manager had reminded them about it.

Upon seeing their names, he took a screenshot and sent it to Nge, who was at training. The pair have since received an influx of congratulatory messages.

This is only the second time Singapore has had a badminton world No. 1, after Yeo Jia Min became the top junior female player in June 2017.

“Our achievement is not just ours, it’s a team effort and we have to thank our coaches and teammates, especially since we have the privilege of having good quality sparring with our seniors. That’s why we could improve much faster,” said Nge, who told his parents immediately after finding out.

“Of course, we’re very happy to create history for Singapore. But we shouldn’t be complacent because we’re going to the senior circuit next year and there’s always going to be better players than us.”

Agreeing, Prajogo added: “We don’t see (the ranking) as pressure. We see it as an achievement that shows each of us how far we’ve come. When we move up to the senior level, that ranking will be gone... so we’ll just focus on performing well, collecting points and winning competitions.”

On the senior circuit, they are ranked 196th and know they have their work cut out for them.

Prajogo said: “The biggest difficulty (when we move up) is definitely the age difference because older players tend to have different styles.

“They’re also more calm because of the experience they have, so they would know how to adjust according to their opponents faster than us, so we definitely have to take our time and learn to do it like the top players.”

Their partnership started when they were 15 in an international tournament in Thailand, where they exceeded expectations by upsetting the top seeds en route to finishing third.

That gave them confidence and they learnt to read each other’s body language. The chemistry, evident throughout Wednesday’s session as they exchanged high fives after every single point in their practice matches and later occasionally finished each other’s sentences, came as a natural result of spending so much time together.

Disagreements occur mainly because of on-court performance but they resolve it within five to 10 minutes of leaving the court.

When asked about the secret ingredient to a great doubles pair, both replied at the same time: “Communication.”

Nge said: “Sometimes we’re a bit more sensitive, especially when our winning rate is not as high, but we’ve learnt from experience... If one person performs well and the other doesn’t, you can’t reach your true potential.”

They hope to be selected for the 2023 SEA Games squad and are preparing for more senior tournaments.

Talk of potentially becoming senior world No. 1s or world champions was dismissed as they preferred to focus on 2023. They have to enlist for national service in 2024.

Prajogo said: “We don’t like to aim for very high, unrealistic goals. We would like to climb the ranks at the senior level and compete in higher level tournaments.

“After NS, we’ll start training hard again. Two years is very long for any sport without consistently training, so we will have to start all over again and work hard to improve from there.”