Background
Widianto, Nova was born on October 10, 1977 in Klaten, Center Java, Indonesia.
Widianto, Nova was born on October 10, 1977 in Klaten, Center Java, Indonesia.
Nova Widianto is considered as one of the greatest doubles player in his era. He is known for his superb movement on court and versatility to be paired with various players. Widianto specialized in mixed doubles.
He enjoyed some international success with Vita Marissa, winning the Southeast Asian Games in 2001, the Asian Badminton Championships in 2003, and the Japan Open in 2004.
However, his greatest success came from a partnership with Lilyana Natsir. They have been one of the world"s two or three leading teams.
The pair once more captured the gold medal at the 2007, by beating Zheng Bo and Gao Ling. They claimed the silver medals at the 2008 Olympic Games, having a shocking loss to the world number 10, Lee Yong Dae and Lee Hyo Jung.
At the 2009 BWF World Championships, they also earned the silver medal, losing to the Danish pair.
He was the runner up three times in a row, from 2006 to 2008, at the Japan open. Widianto has represented Indonesia in the Sudirman Cup (combined men"s and women"s world team championships) five times: 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007 and 2009. 2004 Summer Olympics
2008 Summer Olympics
In the final, they were defeated by gold medalists, Lee Yong-dae and Lee Hyo-jung of South of Korea in straight sets, 21–11 and 21–17.
He also followed some tournaments in men"s doubles.
He played with Candra Wijaya for a few months, preparing for Thomas Cup event and succeeded to be the runner up of Asian Badminton Championships, lost to Jung Jae Sung and Lee Yong-dae in the final, 21–16 21–18. His powerful smash and accurate placement on the court have been a crucial part of Nova"s game to dominate the mixed double and being at the top level
The other thing is his ability to keep retrieving the shuttle with such tricky technique also able to make his opponent goes into the trouble.