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Indonesia brings two titles home from New Zealand
Jonatan Christie (Courtesy of PBSI)After failing to win titles at the Singapore Open and Badminton Asian Championship last month, the national badminton team regained its confidence by claiming two titles in the finals of the New Zealand Open on Sunday
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Jonatan Christie (Courtesy of PBSI)
After failing to win titles at the Singapore Open and Badminton Asian Championship last month, the national badminton team regained its confidence by claiming two titles in the finals of the New Zealand Open on Sunday.
The men’s doubles pair of Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan, nicknamed “Daddies” by their fans, and the flamboyant men’s singles shuttler Jonatan Christie succeeded in meeting the high hopes at home, winning their respective finals at Eventfinda Stadium in Auckland.
Jonatan, also known as Jojo, thrashed Ng Ka Long Angus of Hong Kong 21-12, 21-13 in 39 minutes in Sunday’s final by minimizing his unforced errors. It was an important milestone in Jonatan’s career, as he finally lifted his first Badminton World Federation (BWF) Tour trophy.
“I realized that my opponent was not really good at rallying, so I forced him to run from corner to corner, which disrupted his gameplay,” said Jonatan as quoted by badmintonindonesia.org.
The 2018 Asian Games gold medalist said he did not want to be in a rush attacking his opponent, as he knew Ng had a good defense.
“I am trying to return to my best form as the race to the 2020 Tokyo Olympics has started. I am focusing on every match and trying to enjoy my time on the court without thinking too much about the result,” he added.
Qualification for the Tokyo Games officially kicked off in New Zealand and will last until April next year. Each country will be able to send two representatives if its players are ranked in the top-16 and top-8 in the singles and doubles categories, respectively, after the end of the qualification period.
Ahsan and Hendra nailed their second title this year after beating the Japanese pairs Hiroyuki Endo and Yuta Watanabe 20-22, 21-15, 21-17 in a long battle. It was the pair’s second title after winning at the 2019 All England Open in March.
Patience was the key to Ahsan and Hendra’s win, as they realized the Japanese pair had strong defense.
“Their style is defensive. They stay defensive first, and attack their opponents later,” Ahsan said.
When asked about their plans to qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, the veterans responded by saying they simply planned to enjoy every match and perform their best.
Indonesia had a chance to win one more title in New Zealand with mixed doubles pair Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti coming up against the 2016 Rio Olympic silver medalists Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying of Malaysia in the final.
However, the Malaysians triumphed in an 84 minute thriller, 21-14, 16-21, 29-27.
After New Zealand, the national squad is now gearing up for the 2019 Sudirman Cup in Nanning, China, which is scheduled to run from May 19 to 26. Ahsan, Hendra, Jonatan, Melati and Praveen are among the 20 shuttlers who will represent Indonesia at the upcoming mixed team championship.
