Rafael Candra Wijaya (; born Tan Chia Liang, 16 September 1975) is an Indonesian

badminton Badminton is a racquet sport played using racket (sports equipment), racquets to hit a shuttlecock across a net (device), net. Although it may be played with larger teams, the most common forms of the game are "singles" (with one player per s ...

player.

Career

Wijaya started his career in badminton at the age of five, motivated by his brother Indra Wijaya and later joined a club in Cirebon. His father, Hendra Wijaya, then took him to a club Pelita Jakarta when he was fourteen. In 1991, he was selected to join the national team. In 1998, he moved to Jaya Raya Jakarta. Wijaya is a doubles specialist. He has been rated among the best men's doubles players in the world for over a decade. Noted for his ability in all phases of the doubles game, he has reached the final of the BWF World Championships three times with countryman Sigit Budiarto. They won the 1997 edition in

Glasgow, Scotland Glasgow is the Cities of Scotland, most populous city in Scotland, located on the banks of the River Clyde in Strathclyde, west central Scotland. It is the List of cities in the United Kingdom, third-most-populous city in the United Kingdom ...

and finished second in

2003 2003 was designated by the United Nations as the International Year of Fresh water, Freshwater. In 2003, a Multi-National Force – Iraq, United States-led coalition 2003 invasion of Iraq, invaded Iraq, starting the Iraq War. Demographic ...

and

2005 2005 was designated as the International Year for Sport and Physical Education and the International Year of Microcredit. The beginning of 2005 also marked the end of the International Decade of the World's Indigenous Peoples, Internationa ...

. With Tony Gunawan he captured the men's doubles gold medal at the 2000 Olympics in

Sydney Sydney is the capital city of the States and territories of Australia, state of New South Wales and the List of cities in Australia by population, most populous city in Australia. Located on Australia's east coast, the metropolis surrounds Syd ...

. Though Budiarto has been his most frequent partner, Wijaya has won top tier men's doubles events (and a mixed doubles event or two) with a variety of players, recently renewing an earlier partnership with Gunawan. Wijaya was a member of the world champion

Indonesia Indonesia, officially the Republic of Indonesia, is a country in Southeast Asia and Oceania, between the Indian Ocean, Indian and Pacific Ocean, Pacific oceans. Comprising over List of islands of Indonesia, 17,000 islands, including Sumatra, ...

Thomas Cup The Thomas Cup, sometimes referred as World Men's Team Championships, is an international badminton competition among teams representing member nations of the Badminton World Federation (BWF), the sport's global governing body. The championships h ...

(men's international) teams of

1998 1998 was designated as the ''International Year of the Ocean''. Events January * January 6 – The ''Lunar Prospector'' spacecraft is launched into orbit around the Moon, and later finds evidence for Lunar water, frozen water, in soil i ...

2000 2000 was designated as the International Year for the Culture of Peace and the World Mathematics, Mathematical Year. Popular culture holds the year 2000 as the first year of the 21st century and the 3rd millennium, because of a tende ...

, and

2002 The effects of the September 11 attacks of the previous year had a significant impact on the affairs of 2002. The war on terror was a major political focus. Without settled international law, several nations engaged in anti-terror operation ...

. He was named IBF Player of the Year and received the Eddy Choong awards in 2000. In 2007 he joined the Japanese club owned by

Tonami is a Cities of Japan, city in Toyama Prefecture, Japan. , the city had an estimated population of 48,659 in 16,739 households and a population density of 384 persons per km2. Its total area was . Geography Tonami is located in the Tonami plain ...

Personal life

Wijaya was born in a badminton family. His father Hendra Wijaya introduced him to badminton at the young age. His siblings, Indra Wijaya, Rendra Wijaya and Sandrawati Wijaya also a former national badminton players. He married Maria Caroline Indriani on 20 January 2001 at St. Thomas Rasul Church in Cengkareng. They have two children Gabriel Christopher Wintan Wijaya and Christina Joshephine Wintania Wijaya. He was a founder of Candra Wijaya International Badminton Centre, and Candra Wijaya badminton club.

Participation at Indonesian Team

* 6 times at

Sudirman Cup The Sudirman Cup is an international badminton mixed team competition contested by member countries of the Badminton World Federation, the sport's global governing body. The championship has been awarded every two years since the inaugural tourn ...

(1997, 1999, 2001, 2003, 2005, 2007) * 6 times at

(1998, 2000, 2002, 2004, 2006, 2008)

Awards and nominations

Achievements

Olympic Games

''Men's doubles''

World Championships

''Men's doubles''

World Cup

''Men's doubles''

Asian Championships

''Men's doubles''

Asian Cup

''Men's doubles''

SEA Games

''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

World Junior Championships

The Bimantara World Junior Championships was an international invitation badminton tournament for junior players. It was held in Jakarta, Indonesia from 1987 to 1991. In 1992, International Badminton Federation (former name of Badminton World Federation) started the first IBF World Junior Championships in Jakarta, Indonesia. ''Boys' doubles'' ''Mixed doubles''

BWF Superseries (1 title, 3 runners-up)

The BWF Superseries, which was launched on 14 December 2006 and implemented in 2007, is a series of elite badminton tournaments, sanctioned by the

Badminton World Federation The Badminton World Federation, aka BWF, is the international governing body for the sport of badminton approved by the International Olympic Committee. It was founded on 5 July 1934 as the International Badminton Federation with nine member ...

(BWF). BWF Superseries levels are Superseries and Superseries Premier. A season of Superseries consists of twelve tournaments around the world that have been introduced since 2011. Successful players are invited to the Superseries Finals, which are held at the end of each year. ''Men's doubles'' : BWF Superseries Finals tournament : BWF Superseries Premier tournament : BWF Superseries tournament

IBF/BWF Grand Prix (33 titles, 14 runners-up)

The BWF Grand Prix had two levels, the

BWF Grand Prix and Grand Prix Gold The BWF Grand Prix Gold and Grand Prix was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by Badminton World Federation (BWF) which was run from 2007 to 2017. Features Prize money A Grand Prix Gold tournament offered minimum prize money of US$ ...

. It was a series of badminton tournaments sanctioned by the

(BWF) which was held from 2007 to 2017. The World Badminton Grand Prix sanctioned by International Badminton Federation (IBF) from 1983 to 2006. ''Men's doubles'' ''Mixed doubles'' : BWF Grand Prix Gold tournament : BWF & IBF Grand Prix tournament

IBF International (1 title)

''Men's doubles''

Invitational tournaments

''Men's doubles''

Performance timeline

National team

* ''Senior level''

Individual competitions

* ''Senior level''

References

External links

* * * * {{DEFAULTSORT:Wijaya, Candra 1975 births Living people Sportspeople from Cirebon Badminton players from West Java Indonesian sportspeople of Chinese descent Indonesian male badminton players Badminton players at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic gold medalists for Indonesia Olympic medalists in badminton Medalists at the 2000 Summer Olympics Olympic badminton players for Indonesia Badminton players at the 1998 Asian Games Badminton players at the 2002 Asian Games Asian Games gold medalists for Indonesia Asian Games silver medalists for Indonesia Asian Games medalists in badminton Medalists at the 1998 Asian Games Medalists at the 2002 Asian Games Competitors at the 1997 SEA Games Competitors at the 2001 SEA Games SEA Games gold medalists for Indonesia SEA Games silver medalists for Indonesia SEA Games medalists in badminton World No. 1 badminton players