Virgil Soeroredjo

Virgil Soeroredjo (born 11 March 1985) is a former Surinamese badminton player and now coach. He competed for Suriname at the 2012 Summer Olympics. He also competed for Suriname at 3 Pan Am Games: 2003, the 2007 & 2011. As a young badminton player with the club SCVU in Suriname, Soeroredjo won juniors titles and was selected to represent his country abroad, winning several juniors medals at Caribbean, Central American and South American events. Much of his success was with his doubles partner Mitchel Wongsodikromo.

Multiple Caribbean and Pan Am Juniors badminton championships Together Soeroredjo and Wongsodikromo won the Pan Am Boys Doubles U-17 juniors title at Cuba after they won the Caribbean Boys Doubles titles U-17 & U-19 the same year at Barbados. At the 2000 Carebaco Games, Soeroredjo won five gold medals and a silver medal, winning the triple in the U-17 category plus Boys Doubles in the U-19 category and the U-19 team event for Suriname and second place in Mixed Doubles U-19. In 2001, Soeroredjo successfully defended four of his five Carebaco juniors titles, only losing his singles U-17 title in the final at Jamaica. In 2001 Soeroredjo & Wongsodikromo won Boys Doubles U-17 gold at the South American Juniors Championships in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil. That year they also won the Regatas Cup for Boys Doubles U-17 in Lima, Peru. In 2002, Soeroredjo & Wongsodikromo became Pan American Juniors Semi-Champions U-19 in Orange County, USA. At the same event, Soeroredjo also took two bronze medals, one in the U-19 Mixed Doubles category and also in the team event, where the Surinamese juniors team beat favorites Canada. In the 2002 Carebaco Games, Soeroredjo won gold in the Men's Singles and the Men's Doubles U-19 juniors categories at Puerto Rico. Together with compatriot Carolyn Davids he participated in the Pan American IBF World Academy training camp held in Lima, Peru in 2002. In the 2003 Carebaco Games at Trinidad and Tobago, Soeroredjo lost both the U-19 Boys Singles & Mixed Doubles finals to his compatriot Wongsodikromo. Together, they won the Boys Doubles U-19 title and the Carebaco Juniors 2003 team event.

International and national achievements In 2002, they both won a Men's Singles bronze medal at the 2002 Central American and Caribbean Games (CACSO Games 2002) in San Salvador. In 2003 Soeroredjo was part of the first Surinamese badminton team that participated at the Sudirman Cup Mixed Teams World Championships in Eindhoven, the Netherlands. In 2005 at the Carebaco Open Championships held in Cuba, Soeroredjo managed to reach the semi-finals in Men's Singles, achieving a bronze medal for that as well as in the Team Event.

Soeroredjo won six National Men's Singles titles in 2004, 2006, 2008, 2011, 2013 & 2014. Internationally he was a triple champion at the Suriname International in 2008 winning all three categories in Men's Singles, Men's Doubles and Mixed Doubles. In 2009, he won the Men's Singles and Men's Doubles titles at the Suriname International, in 2010 he won the Mixed Doubles title and in 2011, he won the Men's Doubles title at the Suriname International.

In 2010, Soeroredjo & Wongsodikromo reached the final at the Bill Graham Miami International and in 2011 they reached the semi-final of that same event. In 2011, Soeroredjo won both the Suriname International and the Carebaco International in Men's Doubles. In March 2010 Soeroredjo was also part of the Suriname badminton team that won a bronze medal in Mixed Teams at the 2010 South American Games in Medellín. In July 2010, Soeroredjo & Wongsodikromo won the only medal, a bronze, for Suriname at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games by reaching the semi-finals. In 2012 Soeroredjo was part of the first Suriname Men's badminton team that participated at the Thomas Cup preliminaries in Los Angeles, USA.

In 2009, Soeroredjo moved to the Netherlands, training under coach Mike van Daal. He participated at the highest badminton club competition level, the Eredivisie, for BC Culemborg and BV van Zijderveld. At that time Soeroredjo started turning his focus to his sports management studies at the Johan Cruyff University in Amsterdam. From 2012, the Surinamese national badminton association, Surinaamse Badminton Bond, had been organizing an annual Top 8 Singles event in honor of Soeroredjo's participation at the 2012 London Olympics. Soeroredjo was planning on attending the 2013 event in his home country held by the badminton club of Nieuw Stenov, but unfortunately could not due to his busy study schedule.

In November 2013, Soeroredjo attended the National Championships and 7th Suriname International in Paramaribo. In April 2014, he won the 3rd Assuria International Easter Badminton Tournament 2014 in Paramaribo, beating young Jamaican talent Samuel Ricketts in the final. In November 2014, Soeroredjo attended the National Championships and 8th Suriname International in Paramaribo. Due to a recurring knee injury, Soeroredjo decided to retire as an international player in December 2015. He then went on to successfully complete the BWF Level 1 and Level 2 Badminton Coaches courses.

National badminton titles

1999 - National Championships: Men's Doubles Silver 2000 - National Championships: Men's Singles Silver, Men's Doubles Silver & Mixed Doubles Gold 2001 - National Championships: Men's Doubles Gold 2003 - National Championships: Men's Singles Silver 2004 - National Championships: Men's Singles Gold & Mixed Doubles Silver 2005 - National Championships: Men's Singles Silver, Men's Doubles Gold & Mixed Doubles Silver 2006 - National Championships: Men's Singles Gold, Men's Doubles Gold & Mixed Doubles Gold 2008 - National Championships: Men's Singles Gold, Men's Doubles Gold & Mixed Doubles Silver 2011 - National Championships: Men's Singles Gold, Men's Doubles Gold & Mixed Doubles Gold 2013 - National Championships: Men's Singles Gold, Men's Doubles Gold & Mixed Doubles Silver 2014 - National Championships: Men's Singles Gold, Men's Doubles Silver

International badminton titles

1999 - Caribbean Easter Tournament Curaçao: Boys Singles U-15 Silver, Boys Doubles U-15 Gold, Boys Doubles U-19 Bronze & Mixed Doubles U-15 Bronze 1999 - Carebaco Juniors Championships: Boys Doubles U-19 Bronze, Team Event U-19 Gold 2000 - South American Juniors Championships: Boys Singles U-15 Silver, Boys Doubles U-15 Silver 2000 - Caribbean Easter Tournament Curaçao: Boys Singles U-15 Silver, Boys Doubles U-15 Gold, Mixed Doubles U-15 Bronze & Boys Doubles U-19 Bronze 2000 - Carebaco Juniors Championships: Boys Singles U-17 Gold, Boys Doubles U-17 Gold & Mixed Doubles U-17 Gold, Mixed Doubles U-19 Silver, Team Event U-19 Gold 2000 - Pan Am Juniors Championships: Boys Doubles U-17 Gold, Mixed Doubles U-17 Silver 2001 - Carebaco Juniors Championships: Boys Singles U-17 Silver, Boys Doubles & Mixed Doubles U-17 Gold, Mixed Doubles U-19 Gold & Team Event U-19 Gold 2001 - Regatas Peru Juniors Open: Boys Singles U-17 Bronze, Boys Doubles U-17 Gold, Mixed Doubles U-17 Bronze 2002 - Carebaco Juniors Championships: Boys Singles U-19 Gold & Boys Doubles U-19 Gold 2002 - Pan Am Juniors Championships: Boys Doubles U-19 Silver, Mixed Doubles U-19 Bronze & Team Event U-19 Bronze 2002 - CACSO Games El Salvador: Men's Singles Bronze Medal 2003 - 2003 PAN AM Games Santo Domingo: Participation 2003 - Carebaco Juniors Championships: Boys Singles U-19 Silver, Boys Doubles U-19 Gold, Mixed Doubles U-19 Silver, Team Event U-19 Gold, Team Event Seniors Bronze 2003 - Sudirman Cup World Championship: 1st Participation Surinamese Mixed Team 2005 - Carebaco International Open Championships: Men's Singles Bronze 2006 - BC70 Veluwe Open Tournament Vaassen, NL: Men's Singles Gold & Men's Doubles Gold 2006 - BC Weesp Tournament, NL: Men's Singles Bronze & Men's Doubles Bronze 2007 - Carebaco International Open Championships: Men's Doubles Bronze 2007 - Racketeers Tournament Jamaica: Men's Singles A Silver & Men's Doubles A Silver 2007 - 2007 PAN AM Games Rio de Janeiro: Participation 2008 - 2nd Suriname International: Men's Singles Gold, Men's Doubles Gold & Mixed Doubles Gold 2009 - BC70 Veluwe Dauwtrappers Tournament Vaassen, NL: Men's Singles Gold 2009 - BC70 Veluwe Open Tournament Vaassen, NL: Men's Singles Gold 2009 - Open Alphense Tournament, NL: Men's Singles Gold 2009 - 3rd Suriname International: Men's Singles Gold & Men's Doubles Gold 2010 - AMOR Tournament Groningen, NL: Men's Singles Silver 2010 - CACSO Games Mayaguez: Men's Doubles Bronze Medal 2010 - SOUTH AMERICAN GAMES Medellin: Team Event Bronze 2010 - Bill Graham Miami International: Men's Doubles Silver 2010 - 4th Suriname International: Men's Doubles Silver & Mixed Doubles Gold 2011 - Carebaco International Open Championships: Men's Doubles Gold 2011 - 2011 PAN AM Games Guadalajara: Participation 2011 - Bill Graham Miami International: Men's Doubles Bronze 2012 - Thomas Cup Pan Am preliminaries: 1st Participation Surinamese Men's Team 2012 - 2012 London OLYMPIC GAMES: 2nd Surinamese Badminton Player to participate at the Olympic Games after Oscar Brandon 2013 - 7th Suriname International: Men's Doubles Bronze 2014 - Carlton GT1 Master toernooi Almere 2014, NL: Men's Singles Bronze 2014 - 3rd Assuria International Easter Badminton Tournament 2014, SUR: Men's Singles Gold 2014 - Phytalis Drop Shot Grand Prix Toernooi 2014, NL: Men's Singles Bronze 2014 - 8th Suriname International: Men's Singles Bronze

Achievements with results Central American and Caribbean Games Men's singles Year Venue Opponent Score Result 2002 San Salvador, El Salvador Pedro Yang 3–15, 0–15 Bronze Bronze

Men's doubles Year Venue Partner Opponent Score Result 2010 Raymond Dalmau Coliseum, Porta del Sol,Mayagüez, Puerto Rico Mitchel Wongsodikromo Andrés López Lino Muñoz 14–21, 17–21 Bronze Bronze

BWF International Series/ Future Series

Men's singles

Men's doubles

Mixed doubles

BWF International Challenge tournament BWF International Series tournament BWF Future Series tournament

Personal life Soeroredjo and his wife Willeke have two daughters and lives in Zeeland, the Netherlands. Soeroredjo graduated in 2018 in sports marketing from the Johan Cruijff University in the Netherlands, and was trainer/coach at the Dutch premier division club The Flying Shuttle Barendrecht during the 2018/2019 season.