Virgil Soeroredjo


Virgil Soeroredjo 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: the 2003 Pan American Games, the 2007 Pan American Games & the 2011 Pan American Games. As a young badminton player of the club SCVU in Suriname Virgil Soeroredjo won numerous juniors titles and was soon selected to represent his country abroad winning several juniors medals at Caribbean, Central American and South American events. Lots of his success was with his doubles partner Mitchel Wongsodikromo.

Multiple Caribbean and Pan Am Juniors badminton champion

Together they grew up to become a badminton force for Suriname in the Pan Am region. In 2000 they won the Pan Am Boys Doubles U-17 juniors title at Cuba after they had already won the Caribbean Boys Doubles titles U-17 & U-19 the same year at Barbados. At the 2000 Carebaco Games Virgil Soeroredjo won 5 Gold Medals plus 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 a second place in Mixed Doubles U-19. In 2001 Virgil Soeroredjo managed to successfully defend four of his five Carebaco juniors titles only losing his singles U-17 title in the final at Jamaica. In 2001 Virgil & Mitchel 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 Virgil Soeroredjo & Mitchel Wongsodikromo became Pan American Juniors Semi-Champions U-19 in Orange County, USA. At the same event Virgil 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 surprisingly beat favorites Canada. In the 2002 Carebaco Games Virgil Soeroredjo won Gold at the Men's Singles and the Men's Doubles U-19 juniors categories at Puerto Rico. Together with compatriot Carolyn Davids he participated at the Pan American IBF World Academy training camp held in Lima, Peru 2002. In the 2003 Carebaco Games at Trinidad & Tobago Virgil Soeroredjo lost both the U-19 Boys Singles & Mixed Doubles finals to his compatriot Mitchel Wongsodikromo. Together they eventually 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 in San Salvador. At that time a special achievement since they were both still 17-year-old juniors. In 2003 Virgil 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 Virgil Soeroredjo managed to get in the semi-finals Men's Singles achieving a Bronze Medal as well as in the Team Event held in Cuba.
Virgil Soeroredjo gained 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 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 Virgil Soeroredjo & Mitchel Wongsodikromo reached the final at the Bill Graham Miami International and in 2011 they reached the semi-final of that same event. In 2011 Virgil Soeroredjo won both the Suriname International and the Carebaco International in Men's Doubles. In March 2010 Virgil Soeroredjo was also part of the Suriname badminton team that won a Bronze medal Mixed Teams Badminton at the 2010 South American Games in Medellín. In July 2010 Virgil Soeroredjo & Mitchel Wongsodikromo won the only medal, a Bronze, for Suriname at the 2010 Central American and Caribbean Games by reaching the semi-finales. In 2012 Virgil Soeroredjo was part of the first Suriname Men's badminton team that participated at the Thomas Cup preliminaries in Los Angeles, USA.
In 2009 Virgil Soeroredjo moved to the Netherlands to improve his skills, training under coach Mike van Daal. He participated at the highest badminton club competition level for BC Culemborg and BV van Zijderveld. At that time this badminton player started switching his focus on his sports management study at the Johan Cruyff University in Amsterdam.
From 2012 the National Association, Surinaamse Badminton Bond was annually organizing a Top 8 Singles event in honor of Virgil Soeroredjo's participation at the 2012 London Olympics. In 2013 Virgil Soeroredjo was planning on attending this event in his home country held by the badminton club of Nieuw Stenov, unfortunately he did not due to his busy study schedule.
In November 2013 Virgil 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 Virgil attended the National Championships and 8th Suriname International in Paramaribo. Due to a recurring knee injury Virgil decided to retire as an international player in December 2015. He then followed the BWF Level 1 and Level 2 Badminton Coaches courses successfully.

National badminton titles

Central American and Caribbean Games

Men's singles
YearVenueOpponentScoreResult
2002San Salvador, El Salvador Pedro Yang3–15, 0–15 Bronze

Men's doubles
YearVenuePartnerOpponentScoreResult
2010Raymond Dalmau Coliseum, Porta del Sol,
Mayagüez, Puerto Rico		 Mitchel Wongsodikromo Andrés López
Lino Muñoz		14–21, 17–21 Bronze

BWF International Series/ Future Series

Men's singles
YearTournamentOpponentScoreResult
2014Suriname International Osleni Guerrero12–21, 16–21 Semi-Finalist
2009Suriname International Daniel Paiola21-19, 21–13 Winner
2008Suriname International Mitchel Wongsodikromo10-21, 21-13, 21–10 Winner
2005Carebaco International Yunier Alvarez5–15, 6–15 Semi-Finalist

Men's doubles
YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2013Suriname International Soren Opti Giovanni Greco
Rosario Maddaloni		14–21, 21-23 Semi-Finalist
2011Suriname International Mitchel Wongsodikromo Luis Henrique Dos Santos Jr.
Alex Yuwan Tjong		21-14, 21–17 Winner
2011Miami International Mitchel Wongsodikromo Hugo Arthuso
Daniel Paiola		13–21, 18–21 Semi-Finalist
2011Carebaco International Mitchel Wongsodikromo Nelson Javier
Alberto Rapozo		22-20, 21–18 Winner
2010Suriname International Mitchel Wongsodikromo Kevin Cordón
Rodolfo Ramírez		14–21, 16–21 Runner-up
2010Miami International Mitchel Wongsodikromo Sameera Gunatileka
Vincent Nguy		14–21, 17–21 Runner-up
2009Suriname International Mitchel Wongsodikromo Oscar Brandon
Raul Rampersad		21–15, 21–16 Winner
2008Suriname International Mitchel Wongsodikromo Irfan Djabar
Dylan Darmohoetomo		21–15, 21–15 Winner
2007Carebaco International Mitchel Wongsodikromo Paolo Von Scala
Lucas Araujo		13–21, 18–21 Semi-Finalist
2007Giraldilla International Mitchel Wongsodikromo Osleni Guerrero
Alexander Hernandez		21-17, 13–21, 19–21 Semi-Finalist

Mixed doubles
YearTournamentPartnerOpponentScoreResult
2010Suriname International Mireille van Daal Mitchel Wongsodikromo
Priscille Tjitrodipo		21-8, 21-10 Winner
2008Suriname International Nathalie Haynes Mitchel Wongsodikromo
Jill Sjauw Mook		21-16, 21-16 Winner

Personal life

Virgil Soeroredjo and his wife Willeke have one daughter. Virgil Soeroredjo graduated in 2018 as sports marketeer from the Johan Cruijff University in the Netherlands and was trainer/coach at the Dutch premier division club The Flying Shuttle Barendrecht in the 2018/2019 season.