Indonesia Masters (Badminton): Dates, Tickets & Venue (Jakarta)

A roof built for noise

Istora Senayan is a round hall with tiered seating that rises steeply on every side. When an Indonesian pair walks out, the whole bowl answers. Inflatable clappers bang together, a drum keeps time somewhere high in the stands, and the chant of “In-do-ne-sia!” rolls around the ring.

Players on the BWF World Tour talk about this arena the way footballers talk about famous home grounds. The sound is part of the event and one of the reasons to go. For fans used to polite clapping between rallies, the atmosphere here is much closer to a derby match.

Dates and the shape of the week

The 2027 edition is scheduled for January 19–24. Last year’s ran January 20–25, so the tournament keeps to the same late-January slot.

Over the week, the draw shrinks like this:

• Early days: first rounds across all five events (men’s singles, women’s singles, men’s doubles, women’s doubles, mixed doubles), played on several courts at the same time
• Friday: quarterfinals
• Saturday: semifinals
• Sunday: finals, played one at a time on a single show court

Early rounds give you the most badminton for each session. Finals day gives you the atmosphere.

Tickets and sessions

Each ticket is for one session. The organiser is PBSI, the Badminton Association of Indonesia, and ticket tiers, prices and seating plans sit with PBSI and the tournament’s official channels. No figures are given here because none have been verified.

Weekday tickets usually leave seats spare. The weekend sessions, especially Sunday, are the ones local fans fight over. Indonesian doubles pairs have a big following, and their matches fill the hall fastest.

Seats higher up in the bowl look straight down onto the courts, which suits the multi-court early rounds. Lower seats put you close enough to hear the shoes squeak on court.

Getting to Senayan

The Gelora Bung Karno complex sits on the western side of Jalan Sudirman. That puts it on Jakarta’s main north–south public transport axis.

• MRT Jakarta: the North–South line runs along Sudirman. The Istora and Senayan stations are both a short walk from the complex gates.
• TransJakarta: Corridor 1 buses stop at Gelora Bung Karno.
• Ride-hailing: Gojek and Grab motorbike taxis get through traffic better than cars, and drivers know “Istora GBK” as a drop-off.

January is the middle of the rainy season. Afternoon downpours are common and can bring Sudirman traffic to a crawl, which is why so many fans take the MRT rather than a car on match days.

Cheering, queuing and paying at the Istora

The crowd follows a few unwritten rules.

• Join in, but time it. Fans go silent while the server prepares and then explode after the point. Nobody minds noise between rallies, but noise during one gets you glared at.
• Clappers and flags are part of the scene. Red and white is the default colour scheme, and plenty of visitors buy a clapper from the sellers outside.
• Applaud the visitors too. Fans here know their badminton, and a great rally from a Japanese, Korean or Chinese player gets real applause.
• Pay with your phone. QRIS codes, Indonesia’s standard payment QR, are everywhere, from food stalls to drink sellers. A stored-value transit card or local e-wallet makes the MRT and TransJakarta easier too.

Many visiting fans carry a light rain jacket. The walk from the station to the arena is in the open.

Between sessions around GBK

The complex is large and green by Jakarta standards. The walkways between the venues fill with joggers and families, and Gelora Bung Karno’s main football stadium rises just beyond the arena.

When you need air-conditioning and a proper meal, three malls are close by:

• Plaza Senayan and Senayan City, across the road on the southern side, both with large food courts
• FX Sudirman, near the northern edge of the complex

Fans usually head to one of these during the gap between afternoon and evening sessions. Food vendors also set up outside the arena on match days, selling quick snacks and iced drinks.