First Time in 30 Years All England Open Final Brings Together All Indonesian Players

TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Three Indonesian representatives successfully advanced to the final round of the 2024 All England badminton tournament, Saturday, March 16.

Indonesia's Fajar Alfian / Muhammad Rian Ardianto (Fajar / Rian), who played last, can now join Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and Jonatan Christie (Ginting and Jojo) advancing to the final round after beating Takuro Hoki / Yugo Kobayashi in Birmingham. The seventh seeded doubles won 21-18, 21-18 over their opponent who was the sixth seed.

This success gives Fajar / Rian the opportunity to defend the title they won last year. They will face the Malaysian doubles, Aaron Chia / Soh Wooi Yik.

Indonesian men's doubles badminton players, Muhammad Rian Ardianto and Fajar Alfian (left) is seen trying to return the shuttlecock towards their opponents Malaysian men's doubles badminton players Man Wei Chong and Kai Wun Tee in the round of 16 of the Indonesia Masters 2024 at Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Thursday, January 25, 2024. The Fajar - Rian pair managed to beat the Wei Chong - Kai Wun pair in straight sets with a score of 21-18, 22-20. Based on these results, Fajar - Rian advanced to the last eight. TEMPO / Hilman Fathurrahman W

Fajar / Rian followed Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and Jonatan Christie who advanced to the final first. The two will face off in the final, ensuring that Indonesia wins at least one title from this prestigious badminton tournament.

Ginting was the first Indonesian representative to qualify. He defeated French representative Christo Popov with a score of 19-21, 21-5, 21-11. His victory also ended Indonesia's 22 year wait to place a men's singles representative in the All England final.

Ginting's steps were then followed by Jonatan Christie. He qualified for the top match by defeating India's representative, Lakshya Sen, in a duel which ended in a rubber game 21-12, 10-21, 21-15.

"Praise to God, all this is thanks to God's mercy and kindness to me, Ginting, the men's singles team and the Indonesian team too," said Jonatan, quoted from PBSI's statement.

"Perhaps no one expected that with the recent ups and downs in recent tournament results, we always try our best, we can fix any shortcomings, we build chemistry and we try to be more solid," he added.

Jonatan and Ginting's upcoming match will be the ninth time that two Indonesian men's singles have met in the final round of the oldest badminton tournament in the world.

This is the first time in the last 30 years that the All England Open men's singles final has brought together two Indonesian players. The last time this match took place was at the 1994 All England when Hariyanto Arbi faced Ardy Bernardus Wiranata.

Indonesia, with this achievement, for the first time has won the All England Open in the men's singles sector, with the last title won by Hariyanto Arbi consecutively in 1993 and 1994.

This is also the third time in a row that the All Indonesian Final match has taken place at the All England Open. In 2022, the men's doubles Bagas Maulana/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri won over Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan. Then, the following year, Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto also won over The Daddies in the final round of the All England Open.

Results of Indonesian Representatives in the 2024 All England Semifinals:

Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (5) vs Christo Popov (France): won 19-21, 21-5, 21-11.

Jonatan Christie vs Lakshya Sen (India): win 21-12, 10-21, 21-15.

Fajar Alfian / Muhammad Rian Ardianto (7) vs Takuro Hoki / Yugo Kobayashi (Japan/6): won 21-18, 21-18.

ANTARA

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