Apriyani Rahayu

Apriyani Rahayu (born 29 April 1998) is an Indonesian badminton player specializing in doubles.

In 2007, at the age of 9, she represented Konawe Regency in a regional competition.

In 2011, at the age of 13, she was scouted by Yuslan Kisra who brought her in contact with Icuk Sugiarto who recruited her to his club PB Pelita Bakri (now ISTC) and later on PB Jaya Raya Jakarta for international level play.

Practiced at the Pelita Bakrie club, Rahayu was able to excel in national junior tournaments, so that she and her partner, Jauza Fadhila Sugiarto, were able to top the U17 girls' doubles national rankings in 2013.

At the beginning of 2013, Rahayu was also called to train at the national training center, but the club had not given permission yet.

In 2014, Rahayu and Sugiarto managed to win the Jaya Raya Junior International tournament in August.

Then at the World Junior Championships, she won the silver medal partnering Rosyita Eka Putri Sari.

Sitti Jauhar died in 2015 while Apriyani was at a championship in Peru, but she played through after hearing the news, winning two medals.

In 2015, Rahayu won the bronze medals in the Asian and World Junior Championships in the mixed doubles event partnered with Fachryza Abimanyu.

At the age of 17, Rahayu also managed to win the women's doubles international senior title in Singapore with Sugiarto, and finished as mixed doubles runner-up in the Indonesia International Series with Panji Akbar Sudrajat.

In 2016, Rahayu who was paired with Rinov Rivaldy in the mixed doubles won the bronze medal at the Asian Junior Championships.

They then clinched a Junior Grand Prix title in the Jaya Raya Junior International tournament.

At the Indonesia International Series in Surabaya, Rahayu claimed double title by winning the mixed and women's doubles event.

In May, Rahayu partnered with her senior and mentor Greysia Polii, and they competed as a new pair at the Sudirman Cup in Gold Coast, Australia.

Even though they had only been paired for about a month, the duo won their first title in the Thailand Open after defeating the home pair Chayanit Chaladchalam and Phataimas Muenwong in straight games 21–12, 21–12 in the final.

They also won the Superseries title at the French Open, just five months into their partnership.

Other achievements by Polii and Rahayu in 2017 were runner-up in Hong Kong, semi-finalists in New Zealand, and quarter-finalists in Korea Open.

Rahayu also helped the Indonesia women's team win the bronze medal at the SEA Games held in Kuala Lumpur, In the individual women's doubles event, she and Polii lost in the first round to eventual champion Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai of Thailand.

The Polii and Rahayu partnership, first paired in May, reached a career high as world number 10 in the BWF World rankings in November.

In January, Rahayu and Polii began the season by finishing as runners-up in the Indonesia Masters, losing to second seeded Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi in the final.

A month later, the duo played as the third seeds in the India Open and won the title after beating the first-seeded Christinna Pedersen and Kamilla Rytter Juhl in the semi-finals, and the second-seeded Jongkolphan Kititharakul and Rawinda Prajongjai in the final.

She featured in the Indonesian women's team that won bronze at the Asia Team Championships held in Alor Setar and were quarter-finalists in the Uber Cup in Bangkok.

In July, she and her partner lost in the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Open to Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota, but a week later, she won her second Thailand Open title, as she and Polii defended the title they had won in Thailand the previous year, when the event was known as the Grand Prix.

In August, Rahayu and Polii won the bronze medal at the World Championships in Nanjing, and further bronze medals at the Asian Games in the women's doubles and team events.

Rahayu also won bronze medals at the 2018 Asian Games in the women's team and doubles with her former partner Polii.

With her current partner, Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti, Rahayu won the silver medal at the 2023 World Championships, and a gold at the 2021 SEA Games.

Apriyani Rahayu was born in Lawulo village, a remote settlement in Konawe Regency in Southeast Sulawesi.

She is the youngest child of an agricultural worker named Ameruddin Pora and his wife, Sitti Jauhar.

As a child Rahayu would fight with neighborhood boys, and her father encouraged her to devote her energy to badminton instead, which she agreed to.

According to Rahayu's cousin, her father served as her trainer, with a training regimen including running 10 kilometers to competitions and practicing on a homemade court behind his house lined with areca nut trees.

Pora was self-sufficient but poor.

Rahayu used a homemade wooden racquet with fishing line for string, until her father was able to sell enough vegetables to buy a real racquet.

However, Pora himself credits Rahayu's mother as providing her with support and training.

Sitti Jauhar was an enthusiastic player of badminton, table tennis and volleyball and encouraged Rahayu to be tough and competitive.

In the remainder of the 2018 tour, she and Polii only reached the semi-finals in Japan, China, Denmark, French, Hong Kong, and quarter-finals in the Fuzhou China Open.

The duo achieved their career high as world number 3 in the BWF rankings in September.

She won gold at the 2019 SEA Games, and two bronze medals at the World Championships in 2018 and 2019.

Rahayu opened the 2019 season as a finalist in the Malaysia Masters with Polii.

In the semi-finals, they beat their arch-rivals Misaki Matsutomo and Ayaka Takahashi in a close rubber game, improving their head-to-head record against the Japanese pair to 2–8.

She and Greysia Polii are the reigning Olympic champions in the women's doubles following their win at the 2020 Summer Olympics.