Singapore’s Terry Hee and Indonesia’s Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja have formed a new mixed doubles partnership for the 2026 BWF World Tour season, beginning at the Indonesia Masters. While badminton partnerships between players from different countries are not unprecedented, they remain relatively rare.
Here’s a look at some of the notable cross-national pairings in recent years.
Goh V Shem (Malaysia) & Choi Sol-gyu (South Korea)
Since making their debut at the 2025 Thailand Masters, the unlikely Malaysian-South Korean pairing is still going strong this year. They came closest to securing their first title together at the 2025 Indonesia Masters Super 100 (II), where they finished as runners-up.
Robin Tabeling (Netherlands) & Alexandra Bøje (Denmark)
The Dutch-Danish mixed doubles partnership was formed in 2024 after Bøje’s regular partner, Mathias Christiansen, received a one-year ban and she subsequently persuaded Tabeling to temporarily come out of retirement. The pair started out at the 2024 Arctic Open and went on to achieve their biggest success as a pair by winning the 2025 German Open.
Tan Boon Heong (Malaysia) & Hendra Setiawan (Indonesia)
Two legends of the sport teamed up for the 2017 season, with their best result coming as runners-up at the Australian Open. Following the partnership, Tan continued his career with South Korean players Kim Sa-rang and Yeo Yeon-seong, while Setiawan went on to enjoy further success alongside Mohammad Ahsan.
Yoo Yeon-seong (South Korea) & Lim Khim Wah (Malaysia)
Before pairing up with Tan in 2018, four-time Asian champion Yoo briefly had another Malaysian-South Korean connection as he played alongside Lim for several BWF World Tour tournaments in the year prior.
Tony Gunawan (USA) & Vita Marissa (Indonesia)
Indonesian-born American Tony Gunawan memorably teamed up with Vita Marissa for the mixed doubles event at the 2012 US Open. The experienced scratch pair stunned top seeds Aleksandr Nikolaenko/Valeria Sorokina and went on to beat Japan’s Kenichi Hayakawa/Misaki Matsutomo in the final.
Chris Adcock (England) & Imogen Bankier (Scotland)
The mixed doubles duo represented England and Scotland respectively in BWF tournaments, but they paired up under the Great Britain banner for the 2011 BWF World Championships, claiming a silver medal.
Robert Blair (Scotland) & Gabby Adcock (England)
Blair represented England from 2001 to 2010 before switching allegiance to Scotland, forming cross-border partnerships on both sides of his nationality change. His most notable success came in 2011, when he won the German Open mixed doubles title alongside Adcock. Blair also partnered players from other nations throughout his career, including Malaysia’s Tan Bin Shen and Indonesia’s Pia Zebadiah Bernadet.
Anastasia Russkikh (Russia) & Petya Nedelcheva (Bulgaria)
Both players were known for forming international partnerships throughout their careers, but they enjoyed some of their best results together. In 2010, they finished as runners-up at the European Championships as well as the French Open.
Jessica Pugh (England) & Cheryl Seinen (Netherlands)
Better known for their respective partnerships with Ben Lane and Selena Piek later in their careers, Pugh and Seinen took their National Badminton League partnership onto the BWF International Series circuit in 2016, where they captured the Romanian International women’s doubles title.
Sam Magee (Ireland) & Sylvain Grosjean (France)
The Irish-French pairing made headlines in 2009 by winning the boys’ doubles event at the European Junior Championships, a competition traditionally dominated by same-nationality pairs. The duo went their separate ways after their junior careers, with Magee achieving success largely alongside his siblings, while Grosjean memorably claimed the 2011 Dutch International title.
