The Second Round of Hylo is Open to Indonesian Athletes

SAARBRUCKEN, THURSDAY — Indonesian athletes triumphed in a relatively easy challenge in the first round of the Hylo Open badminton tournament in Saarbrucken, Germany. The level of challenge, including from seeded players, will be encountered in the second round.

One of the representatives who will face a tough opponent with a seeded status is the men's doubles team, Leo Rolly Carnando/Bagas Maulana. At Saarlandhalle, Saarbrucken, a city located in the southwest region of Germany, Leo/Bagas will compete against the third seeds from Malaysia, Man Wei Chong/Tee Kai Wun.

Another men's doubles pair, Muhammad Rian Ardianto/Rahmat Hidayat, will face the eighth seeds, Lee Jhe Huei/Yang Po Hsuan. In the mixed doubles category, Adnan Maulana/Indah Cahya Sari Jamil will challenge the third seeds from Denmark, Jesper Toft/Amelie Magelund, after defeating Samuel Jones/Lizzie Tolman (England) with a score of 21-13, 21-13 in the first round, Wednesday (29/10/2025) evening local time.

The first meeting with Toft/Magelund could be an opportunity for Adnan/Indah to advance further compared to the two other tournaments in the past two weeks. They were eliminated in the second round of the Denmark Open, and then in the first round of the France Open.

One of the mixed doubles teams from the main national training center is still struggling to achieve consistency in their performance. They often get eliminated in the early rounds despite reaching the quarter-finals at the Indonesia Open and the semi-finals at the Hong Kong Open.

For Leo/Bagas and Rian/Rahmat, the second round will present a different test. Leo/Bagas needs a victory to boost their confidence after being eliminated in the first round in three consecutive tournaments prior to the Hylo Open.

In addition, the All England finalist has also more frequently lost when facing top world players. After the All England, they have only won once against a pair ranked in the top ten in the world, specifically against Man/Tee in the second round of the China Masters in September. That encounter could also serve as a foundation for Leo/Bagas to once again defeat Man/Tee, who are the fifth-ranked men's doubles team in the world.

As an additional note, Man/Tee is one of three men's doubles pairs from Malaysia that ranks in the top five. They are positioned below Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik (2) and Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izuddin (4).

Rian/Rahmat will receive additional lessons as a new pair. Rian is a senior player who has partnered with Fajar Alfian for 11 years; however, he currently has a role in helping to develop the skills of Rahmat, a 22-year-old player who is seven years younger than him.

In their third week as a pair, Rian/Rahmat have already made a surprise by defeating top world pairs, namely Chia/Soh and Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty, at the Denmark and France Opens. However, they have yet to face many opponents with different playing styles.

In addition to the three representatives, the other Indonesian squad should be able to overcome the challenges of the second round with a victory against opponents whose achievements are below theirs. Fajar/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri will face the German pair, Bjarne Geiss/Jones Ralfy Jansen, after defeating Nur Mohd Azriyn/Tan Wee Kiong (Malaysia) 21-16, 24-22 in the first round on Wednesday.

For Fajar/Fikri, who are the fifth seeds, the Hylo Open marks their seventh tournament since they made their debut at the Japan Open in July. Out of six tournaments, they have reached the finals four times, including consecutively in the last two weeks: the Denmark and France Opens.

With their top-seed status, Jafar Hidayatullah/Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu and Amri Syahnawi/Nita Violina Marwah have an advantage over their opponents. Additionally, Jafar/Felisha come with the confidence of having won their previous encounter against the opponents they will face, namely Chen Cheng Kuan/Hsu Yin Hui. The fourth-seeded mixed doubles pair triumphed over Chen/Hsu in the second round of the Asian Championship in China in April.

Although the statistics of achievements and the status of being a top seed demonstrate the superiority of Indonesian players, they must not become complacent. Putri Kusuma Wardani does not deny that she feels the pressure of being the top seed in women's singles. "However, I want to turn that into motivation. Certainly, I want to stand on the highest podium," said Putri.

The world-ranked seventh athlete won against Anna Siess Ryberg (Denmark) with a score of 21-18, 21-5 in the first round and will face Kisona Slevaduray (Malaysia) in the second round.

In men's singles, Jonatan Christie will face Chi Yu Jen after winning against Tharun Manepalli 21-11, 21-12. The Denmark Open champion is the second seed, which is the top seed in men's singles. Previously, Jonatan was ranked below Anders Antonsen, but the Danish athlete withdrew.