Valuable Provisions for Alwi Farhan

JAKARTA, KOMPAS — The journey of young Indonesian badminton player, Alwi Farhan, was halted by the world number three in men's singles, Anders Antonsen, in the second round of the 2025 Indonesia Open. Despite the loss, the experience gained from his debut in this top-level tournament serves as valuable preparation for Alwi as he looks forward to the next tournament.

The experience of defeating Antonsen in their previous encounter was not enough for Alwi Farhan to achieve a similar result when they faced each other again on Thursday (5/6/2025). After pushing the match to a third game, Alwi ultimately succumbed to the Danish men's singles player with scores of 16-21, 21-18, 14-21.

"In the third set, I lost the start and finally I was less able to escape the pressure. When I wanted to catch up, (the points) were too far. He also had a slightly higher tempo," said Alwi after the match at Istora Gelora Bung Karno, Senayan, Jakarta.

After losing the first game, Alwi gradually found a playing pattern that suited him in the second game. The 19-year-old player played more patiently, responding to Antonsen, who made few mistakes.

Alwi attempted to control the tempo, managing his energy because facing top world players like Antonsen would surely drain his physical strength. The 2023 junior world champion chased a seven-point deficit, equalized the score, and then turned the situation around to 15-14.

Although Antonsen subsequently put up a strong resistance, Alwi was able to close the second game with a victory. However, in the third game, Alwi failed to replicate the same performance.

Alwi was too far behind to catch up. He managed to thwart Antonsen's match point twice. However, he eventually fell.

In the first meeting of the group stage of the Sudirman Cup, earlier in May, Alwi won with scores of 21-17, 15-21, 21-17. Alwi initiated Indonesia's turnaround after initially losing the first match against Denmark, ultimately winning with a score of 4-1.

The match at Istora, which was equally competitive, demonstrated that Alwi maintained an unwavering spirit of perseverance. In his debut at the Indonesia Open as well as in the tournament at the Super 1000 level, the highest in the BWF World Tour structure, Alwi was able to endure for one hour and 17 minutes, just under a minute less than the duration of their first encounter.

With the same mentality, Alwi does not want to be disturbed by the series of achievements of Antonsen, who is a finalist of the 2019 World Championship and the holder of eight BWF World Tour titles. Antonsen has also reached the finals of the Indonesia Open twice and has won the Malaysia Open, a tournament of the same level as the Indonesia Open.

Alwi stated that both the first and second meetings were equally difficult and challenging. Although he ultimately lost this time, Alwi attempted to reflect on the outcome as part of the process in his career journey. He promised to rise stronger in the next tournament.

"It is indeed not easy, there are always many ups and downs. However, I believe I must be strong. I must be able to improve on my shortcomings," said Alwi.

"There is approximately one month left for further preparation. I will definitely maximize my efforts in the next tournament. There is still a lot of homework that I need to do, but this is part of the process. I will come back stronger and rise again," he stated, still uncertain about which tournament he will compete in next.

Alwi has become the highest-ranked men's singles player in the national badminton training center. Previously, there was Jonatan Christie in fifth place, but he decided to train outside the national training center since May 15. With Alwi's defeat, there are no remaining men's singles players in the Indonesia Open.

Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo was eliminated in the first round. Meanwhile, Jonatan, like Alwi, was knocked out in the round of 16. Previously, at the Singapore Open last week, Jonatan also lost in that round.

Unlike Alwi, who showed a strong resistance against Antonsen, Jonatan's performance declined in the second and third games when facing Lee Cheuk Yiu. Jonatan, who was the fifth seed, lost to the player from Hong Kong with scores of 21-12, 12-21, 10-21.

As in when playing three games against Jia Heng Jason Teh in the first round, Jonatan recounted that he had difficulty adapting to the gusts and direction of the wind on the court. According to Jonatan, the gusts of wind felt on Court 1 in the first round were different from those on Court 2 when he faced Lee.

The situation was also felt by the opponent, but Jonatan could not anticipate it well. In the third game, he made mistakes in easy shots, one of which was a smash that made the shuttlecock not dive so much and fell far outside the sideline. Jonatan's unforced error gave Lee many points.

The quarterfinals reached by Putri Kusuma Wardani mark her furthest journey in the Indonesia Open after being eliminated in the second round in 2023 and the first round in 2024. This stage adds to Putri's best results in several tournaments.

In January, Putri reached the quarter-finals of another Super 1000 tournament, the Malaysia Open. This also marked the best result for the 22-year-old athlete since making her debut at the Malaysia Open in 2022. The quarter-finals of the Indonesia Masters, the semi-finals of the Thailand Masters, and the semi-finals of the Swiss Open also represent Putri's furthest progress in each of those tournaments.

In the Indonesia Open, Putri secured a quarterfinal ticket after defeating the eighth seed, Supanida Katethong, with scores of 17-21, 21-9, 21-8. Putri added to her victories over the Thai player this year after winning in the first round of the All England. In her debut at the oldest badminton tournament in the world, Putri lost in the second round.

The second-ranked female player in Indonesia after Gregoria Mariska Tunjung has achieved a fairly stable performance since September 2024, continuing into this year. However, she has not yet truly reached a consistent stage in tournaments of the BWF World Tour Super 500 and above.

When facing a player with a lower ranking, Malvika Bansod, in the first round of the Indonesia Open, Putri won after her opponent withdrew due to injury. This occurred while she was trailing 16-21, 15-16. She struggled against the tenacity of her opponent's play, even though the Indian athlete had only recently won a title at the international challenge level.

The opportunity to elevate her game level after two rounds at the Indonesia Open lies in the match against Akane Yamaguchi in the quarterfinals on Friday. Moreover, the two encounters against Yamaguchi, which ended in defeat for Putri, took place in 2023. One of these occurred in the first round of the Indonesia Open.

Putri believes that although the performance of the Japanese player is not as solid as it was a few years ago, Yamaguchi remains a difficult athlete to defeat. During the period of 2021-2023, Yamaguchi became the world champion in 2021 and 2022. The 27-year-old athlete has accumulated ten titles in the BWF World Tour, one of which is from the All England 2022.

"Facing Akane will not be easy. I have to be prepared from the start and must be able to anticipate attacks with very good shot accuracy," said Putri.

In another quarterfinal, the world number one women's singles player, An Se-young, will face Pornpawee Chochuwong. Meanwhile, a competition among Chinese players will take place between Chen Yu Fei and Han Yue.