Wibowo Victo

Jayce September 6, 2024 2 0

Character Introduction

Wibowo Victo (September 29, 1973), an Indonesian-Chinese badminton player, was born in Jakarta, Indonesia. He was formerly a member of the Indonesian national badminton team but moved to Taiwan to continue his career after the anti-Chinese riots in Indonesia. In 2001, he transitioned to a coaching role and is currently the coach of the badminton teams at National Keelung High School and the APAC Badminton Club, having developed several prominent Taiwanese badminton players. He graduated from National Taiwan Sport University with a degree in sports science.

Wibowo’s grandfather was originally from Shanghai and later moved to Indonesia due to business and was once a badminton agent in Indonesia. Wibowo has three brothers; from the age of nine, his father, an amateur badminton player, took them to local clubs to play, hoping they would become professional athletes. Ultimately, his three brothers went abroad for studies and to assist in the family business, while Wibowo continued with badminton.

Initially, Wibowo focused on men’s singles and achieved notable results in youth tournaments in the Netherlands and Germany, which led him to join the national team while still in high school. However, during a competition, he was a temporary substitute for a men’s doubles player who was ill and eventually reached the semifinals. The coach suggested he switch to men’s doubles. Considering that men’s doubles has less physical demand and lighter training load, Wibowo’s father supported his decision to switch to men’s doubles to allow him time to complete his university education.

From 1993 to 1997, Wibowo partnered with various players in international competitions, and eventually teamed up with Chien Yu-Hsiu, winning the men’s doubles titles at the 1997 Polish International and the 1997 French Open. Their highest world ranking was 4th.

In 1998, following the May 1998 riots in Indonesia, Wibowo sought a stable environment and was invited to Taiwan by the Cooperative Bank. He left the Indonesian national team with the intention of pursuing studies. In 1999, he started representing “Chinese Taipei” in international competitions and partnered with Lee Wei-Jen, achieving their highest world ranking of 8th just before the Sydney Olympics, the best ranking ever for Taiwanese players at the time.

However, due to coordination issues among administrative departments and organizations, Wibowo was unable to compete in the Olympics. After the Sydney Olympics, his world ranking points decreased due to reduced funding for international competitions. As the dream of competing in the Olympics became increasingly elusive, Wibowo chose to retire and transition to coaching.

After giving up his Olympic aspirations, Wibowo dedicated himself fully to coaching, aiming to pass on his skills to the next generation and develop international-level players. During his time at Keelung High School, he trained several top badminton players, including Chen Hong-Lin and Lin You-Lang, who won the men’s doubles title at the 2009 Chinese Taipei Open, and Zhou Tiancheng, who reached a highest world ranking of 2nd in men’s singles. Other notable players he trained include men’s doubles players Li Yang, Li Che-Hui, Su Jing-Heng, and Tai Tzu-Ying’s personal coach Lai Chien-Cheng, all of whom trained under Wibowo while at Keelung High School.

Major Achievements