Rushing to Earn Points, Fajar/Rian Instead Lost in the Quarter-Finals of BAC

– The world’s number one men’s doubles from Indonesia, Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto, admitted that playing in a hurry because they wanted to quickly add points made them make their own mistakes and were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Badminton Asia Championships or Badminton Asia Championship (BAC).

Fajar/Rian’s steps stopped after the Malaysian pair, Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi, gave up on Thursday (28/4/2023). Fajar/Rian failed to advance to the top four after surrendering 20-22, 15-21 to the eighth seed. Fajar/Rian gave up after playing 37 minutes.

Fajar/Rian actually started the match well. After the score was tied at 1-1, they then shot up and led 11-7 at the interval. However, after winning 15-10, Fajar/Rian failed to develop their game and often made unforced errors.

Ong/Teo then managed to win five consecutive points and managed to equalize. The score was level again at 16-16. But then Ong/Teo excelled. Fajar/Rian did equalize to 20-20 and forced a deuce. But Ong/Teo won two consecutive points and finished the first game 22-20.

The same scenario was repeated in the second game. After two draws at the start, Fajar/Rian then skyrocketed and won 7-2. But Ong/Teo got up and forced his opponent to not be able to develop the game.

After being tied at 7-7 and 8-8, the eighth ranked doubles turned skyrocketed without being able to be chased again by Fajar/Rian. They also won 11-9 and then finished the second game with a score of 21-15.

“The first game after the interval the opponent changed the pattern by playing defense and they were very confident in the match this time. Meanwhile, we were in a hurry to get points so we made a lot of mistakes ourselves,” said Fajar.

“Indeed, when we meet opponents like Ong/Teo, we can’t play like before, we have to be patient and not rush. That’s what we didn’t do today,” he said again.

Meanwhile, Muhammad Rian Ardianto used a different strategy in the second start and was successful. “Early in the second game, we tried again with our strategy, it was quite successful, but again they were able to catch up and that made them more confident,” said the 27-year-old badminton player.

“Certainly sad and disappointed because we had a chance in this tournament but it must be admitted that we did not play well,” the player who was born in Bantul regretted.

Failure to reach the semifinals of BAC also occurred in two mixed doubles Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari and Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti and women’s doubles Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi.

Meanwhile, the women’s doubles, Febriana/Amalia, were stopped by the Thai doubles, Jongkolphan Kititharakul/Rawinda Prajongjai, 21-16, 18-21, and 11-21.

The only ticket to the semifinals so far has only been won by mixed doubles Dejan Ferdinansyah/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja. Dejan/Gloria advanced to the last four after eliminating Rohan Kapoor/Reddy Sikki, 21-18, 19-21, and 21-15. Dejan/Gloria are entitled to appear in the semifinals after fighting for 1 hour and 5 minutes.

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