Next month’s 2019 Blibli Indonesia Open is set to be a showground for the host country’s stars, especially its emerging youngsters, to flaunt their abilities in front of the home crowd as they seek to collect points to qualify for the 2020 Tokyo Olympic Games.

Mixed doubles player Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja, 25, is among the favorites to win the tournament and is now expected to take the mantle from retired Olympians Liliyana Natsir and Debby Susanto.

Gloria and her partner Hafiz Faisal are ranked sixth in the world and are Indonesia’s highest ranked mixed doubles pair.

Unfortunately, Gloria and Hafiz will face off against their juniors Rinov Rivaldy, 19, and Pitha Haningtyas Mentari, 19, in the opening round, meaning one of the host country’s hopefuls will be leaving the tournament early.

The senior pair won their previous meeting at the Singapore Open in April.

Commenting on the match, Gloria highlighted the junior pair’s speed.

“[Both pairs] know [each other’s] strengths and weaknesses. It may be a speedy contest. Let’s see how it goes on the court,” Gloria told journalists on the sidelines of a press conference for the tournament in Jakarta on Wednesday.

At the 2018 open, Gloria and Hafiz were knocked out in the semifinals by eventual champions Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir of Indonesia.

Gloria said they were targeting to at least reach the semifinals again, adding that the pair had improved their game through a high-intensity training program.

Going forward, Gloria said the pair’s main goal was remaining in the top eight, which is a requirement for Olympics qualification, but that they would also seek to break into the top five or even top three.

“My target is to be in the top five by the end of the [2019] season. I am still adapting to being in the top 10.

“To break into the top five, I have to maintain high standards on and off the court, including paying attention to what I eat and [maintaining my] discipline,” she added.

In the men’s doubles category, 2018 champions and Indonesian fan favorites Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon plan to go back-to-back and defend their title.

The world number ones are the top seeds in this year’s Indonesia Open and will face Takuto Inoe and Yuki Kaneko of Japan in the first round. The pair, affectionately nicknamed “Minions” by their fans, are in the top draw with third seeds Li Junhui and Li Yuchen of China.

Kevin and Marcus have collected two titles so far this year, the Malaysia Masters and Indonesia Masters, which were held in January.

“Defending our [Indonesia Open] title will not be easy, as we’re also carrying some expectations. The competition in the men’s doubles this year will also be tougher than last year — every pair has a chance to win it,” said Kevin.

A total of US$1.25 million in prize money is on offer at this year’s Indonesia Open.

Surveying the talent that will hit the court at the upcoming tournament, Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) chief Wiranto admitted the national squad lacked power on the world stage.

After dominating throughout the 1960s and 1970s, Indonesia now ranks third in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) team rankings behind the first placed Japan and China in second.

However, Wiranto expressed optimism the national squad was on its way back to reaching the heights of the glory days.

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