Despite having the full support of the home crowd at the Istora Senayan indoor stadium in Central Jakarta, all Indonesians but one competing in singles events at the 2019 Blibli Indonesia Open failed to advance to the quarterfinals on Thursday.

Indonesia’s last hope in the women’s singles category, Gregoria Mariska, nearly surprised in a match against seventh-seeded Ratchanok Intanon of Thailand.

Claiming the first game 21-13, Gregoria had the chance to secure a ticket to the quarterfinals, matching Ratchanok’s game with some good ball placement. However, the Thai national’s experience in dealing with pressure in critical moments proved valuable in her 21-19 win in the second game to force a decider.

Gregoria’s quickness declined in the deciding game, resulting in sloppier footwork. Ratchanok took advantage of this to take the lead before closing out the game 21-15 to seal a quarterfinal spot, where she will play world number one Tai Tzu Ying of Chinese Taipei on Friday.

“Compared to the last meeting, Gregoria now moves faster. But her speed was decreasing in the second and third games and this influenced her shuttle placement, which was not [as dangerous as in the first game],” Ratchanok said.

“I think that she tried to win in two games since I know that her fitness is not that strong as other players but she has good skill, especially her handwork, which sometimes confuses me.”

Gregoria’s second-round loss means that Indonesia is without any representatives in the women’s singles. Fitriani, Ruselli Hartawan and Lianny Mainaky exited the tournament earlier in the first round.

Rionny Mainaky, who heads the Indonesian women’s singles team, said Gregoria had the chance to beat Ratchanok, but she made too many unforced errors, especially in netting shots.

Evaluating the performance of her squad in the tournament, Rionny said the players needed to maintain their focus, especially in critical moments.

“Their opponents, like Ratchanok and Chen Yufei [of China who beat Fitriani on Wednesday] have a strong mentality. It was proven during critical points as they knew what to do and were sure with their abilities. Meanwhile, our players were not firm enough,” he said.

With their journey at the Indonesia Open cut short, Gregoria and Fitriani will now prepare for the Japan Open next week.

The run of unfavorable results was also seen on the men’s side, with seventh-seeded Anthony Sinisuka Ginting losing to Thai youngster Kantahpon Wangcharoen 22-20, 11-21, 21-19 in an intense second-round match.

Men’s singles star Jonatan “Jojo” Christie was the exception to Indonesia’s misfortunes, as he earned a quarterfinal spot after defeating Dane Hans-Kristian Solberg Vittinghus 22-20, 21-13. Jonatan will face fourth-seeded Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei on Friday.

In the biggest upset of the day, China’s Huang Yu Xiang sent world number one Kento Momota of Japan home after winning 21-16, 11-21, 21-18.

An injury forced second-seeded Shi Yuqi of China to retire from a match against Anders Antonsen of Denmark. Shi was leading 7-6 in the first game before exiting.

As expected, Indonesian men’s doubles players are dominating the arena thanks to top seeds Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon, rising duo Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto as well as veterans Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan. The three pairs all booked spots in the quarterfinals.

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