Yesaya Saudale clinches IBL Most Improved Player 2026
Jakarta (ANTARA) - Tangerang Hawks Basketball guard Yesaya Saudale has secured the Indonesian Basketball League (IBL) Most Improved Player 2026, after an impressive first season with the club and showing a significant statistical improvement compared with 2025.
“He (Yesaya Saudale) achieved the highest points among the four other candidates,” said IBL Chief Executive Junas Miradiarsyah when contacted by ANTARA in Jakarta on Saturday.
The guard stood out for the Tangerang Hawks throughout the 2026 regular season.
The award marks his first individual title since beginning his professional career in the IBL in 2022.
Previously, the 24-year-old player had already tasted league glory and appeared in the All-Star event.
His move from Pelita Jaya Jakarta to the Hawks at the end of the 2025 season was a turning point for his performances. With his new club, he was trusted with a larger role and became one of the driving forces of the team.
Throughout the 2026 regular season, he appeared in 17 games and missed three due to injury.
That record marked a sharp improvement over the previous season when he averaged just three points per game, 1.7 rebounds per game, and 1.9 assists per game.
The increase in contributions was also helped by the increase in minutes played. If last season Yesaya played an average of 11.6 minutes per game, this season he earned trust to play up to 31.1 minutes per game.
In the award voting, Yesaya received 10 first-place votes from a total of 21 voters. The haul gave him 159 points and he led Antoni Erga of Bogor Hornbills, who finished second with 142 points.
The next places were taken by Sulthan Fauzan (Tangerang Hawks Basketball), Patrick Nikholas (Dewa United Banten), and Samuel Devin Susanto (Rajawali Medan).
The IBL Awards 2026 voting system involved a total of 21 voters consisting of 11 head coaches, plus basketball analysts and media representatives totaling 10 people.
Each voter allocated points based on player ranking, namely 10 points for first place, seven points for second, five for third, three for fourth, and one point for fifth.