As the first Super 1000 tournament after the start of qualification for the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo, the 2019 Blibli Indonesia Open began Tuesday with intense matches, with players well aware of the importance of securing as many points as possible to earn a spot on the badminton stage in Tokyo.

Indonesian women’s doubles player Greysia Polii said she acknowledged the challenges in her category, which was full of top players.

The women’s doubles category offered high-level competition from Japanese players fighting to qualify for the Olympics, she said.

The Olympics allows a country to send a maximum of two representatives for each badminton event, provided that its players finish in the top eight in the qualifiers.

“Based on my experience in [qualifying for the Rio Olympics] in 2016, the competition was not as tight as it is now. [At that time] the top four pairs, for example, wouldn’t compete in lower-level tournaments,” she said.

In their match Tuesday, fifth-ranked duo Greysia and Apriani Rahayu defeated Ayako Sakuramoto and Yukiko Takahata of Japan 21-15, 21-16 to advance to the next round.

“We will go one step at a time, focusing on each match without forgetting our goal, which is to win the title,” she said.

Meanwhile, Chinese veteran Lin Dan is on a personal mission to break a record by representing his country at the Olympics for a fifth time. Lin is a two-time Olympic gold medalist.

Lin, 35, is the last of four shuttler legends of his generation —the others being Dane Peter Gade, Indonesian Taufik Hidayat and Malaysian Lee Chong Wei — still playing the sport at the professional level.

In Jakarta, Lin also hopes to break a losing streak that has prevented him from ever reaching the Indonesia Open podium. His best achievement at the topflight tourney was as a semifinalist in 2004.

“There are a lot of factors like the weather and the supporters that influence my performance here. I still haven’t found a way to overcome that,” said Lin.

During his first test in Jakarta, he defeated Canadian Jason Anthony Ho-Shue in the first round on Tuesday by a score of 14-21, 21-16, 21-16.

“I want to compete in the Olympics since I am still healthy and not dealing with injuries. I also want to break the record by representing my country for a fifth time at the Olympics,” said Lin, whose Olympic debut was in Athens in 2004.

Lin will face fourth seed Chou Tien Chen of Chinese Taipei in the second round on Thursday. Chou secured his second-round spot after beating Suppanyu Avihingsanon of Thailand 21-12, 21-11.

Home-court advantage proved beneficial for women’s doubles pair Nadya Melati and Tiara Rosalia Nuraidah, neither of whom are on the national team, though both have competed in national circuits.

The pair bested Gronya Sommerville and Setyana Mapasa of Australia 21-15, 22-20.

Getting to the professional level was not easy for the pair due to roadblocks in the form of administrative work, Nadya said.

Despite the challenges, Nadya and Tiara are doing their best to show they belong.

“Even though we may not be able to train as efficiently as we did while we were with the national squad, we’re confident that we are mature enough and we believe in our own abilities,” Nadya said.

In the second round, they will face the top seeds Mayu Matsumoto and Wakana Nagahara of Japan.

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