Gregoria Mariska Tunjung Is Not in Her Best Years

ODENSE, TUESDAY – Numerous absences and early eliminations have characterized much of Gregoria Mariska Tunjung's journey in the 2025 tournament. Nevertheless, the Indonesian women's singles badminton player remains determined to improve her performance in the remaining tournaments she will participate in.

One of the disappointing outcomes was experienced at the Denmark Open BWF World Tour Super 750 tournament held at the JYSKE Bank Arena, Odense, Denmark. After reaching the semifinals in 2024, this time, Gregoria was eliminated in the first round after losing to Kirsty Gilmour with a score of 7-21, 14-21, on Tuesday (14/10/2025).

In her first defeat out of five encounters with the Scottish athlete, Gregoria never once led in the score. The closest margin occurred in the second game when Gregoria narrowed the gap from 10-16 to 14-16.

I couldn't change the strategy so I lost a lot of points in the same way.

Many mistakes were made by the eighth-ranked women's singles player from Indonesia. What Gregoria displayed during the 30-minute match was, in fact, largely erroneous. Her body language, on several occasions, reflected her confusion.

In addition to making many mistakes, Gregoria believes that her performance was monotonous. "I couldn't change my strategy, which led to losing many points in the same way. I have tried to change it, but I was inconsistent. Kirsty also looked very prepared," commented Gregoria.

The defeat, Gregoria stated, is not related to the vertigo that caused her to miss many tournaments, including the China Masters and the Korea Open, in September. "There is no fear or trauma from the vertigo I have experienced recently; I do not think about it too much. The condition has improved. Earlier, my performance on the court was indeed not good," she said.

The China Masters and Korea Open were supposed to be participated in by Gregoria after she competed in the World Championship in France in August. However, the 26-year-old athlete had to withdraw from the competition despite being in Shenzhen, the venue for the China Masters. Her vertigo recurred, prompting Gregoria to return to Indonesia.

Before the China Masters and the Korea Open, the condition that caused Gregoria to feel dizzy, lose balance, and vomit forced her to miss tournaments from mid-April to mid-July. The bronze medalist of the Paris 2024 Olympics underwent examinations and therapy, resulting in her absence from the Sudirman Cup and the Indonesia Open.

Gregoria competed again in the Asia Tour in July, resulting in a first-round loss at the Japan Open and a quarter-final exit at the China Open. After that, she participated in the World Championship, but withdrew from the China Masters and the Korea Open.

As has been mentioned several times during training at the badminton national training center in Cipayung, Jakarta, Gregoria ultimately has to prioritize her health. Therefore, when given the opportunity to compete, she does not set high targets.

The goal is to perform as well as possible, as desired, in the remaining tournaments to be participated in during 2025. After the Denmark Open, Gregoria is scheduled to compete in the France Open from October 21 to 26, as well as the Kumamoto Masters and the Australia Open in November.

"I am grateful to be able to compete again after the last time at the World Championship, so I want to maintain my condition to stay fit and healthy. I want to improve my performance even further and achieve better results in the next tournament," said Gregoria.

At the Denmark Open, Gregoria appeared alongside her "younger sister" in the women's singles national training center, Putri Kusuma Wardani, who advanced to the second round. Putri triumphed over the 18-year-old Indian player, Anmol Kharb, with a score of 21-9, 21-14.

In the Arctic Open tournament in Finland, a week before the Denmark Open, Kharb reached the semifinals, prompting Putri not to underestimate the junior player. "From the beginning, I tried to control the game according to the pattern I wanted," said Putri.

In the second round, the seventh-seeded athlete will face another young player, Tomoka Miyazaki. The 19-year-old Japanese player is the 2022 junior world champion who has defeated Putri once in their four encounters. This moment occurred in the quarterfinals of the 2024 Macau Open, which was later avenged by Putri in the second round of the Japan Open and the third round of the 2025 World Championship.

The match against Miyazaki will be one of the significant challenges for Putri to (at least) match her performance at the 2024 Denmark Open when she reached the semifinals. This remains one of Putri's best results in tournaments at the Super 500 level and above, alongside the final of the 2024 Hong Kong Open Super 500, as well as the quarterfinals of the Indonesia Open Super 1000 and the semifinals of the World Championships this year.

If she can defeat Miyazaki, Putri has the opportunity to meet the world number one player, An Se-young, in the quarter-finals. This would be the sixth chance to win, or at least perform better, after Putri has always lost in the previous five encounters.

In the men's singles, Alwi Farhan's debut at the Denmark Open did not go well. Not only did he lose, but Alwi was unable to perform at his best when facing Ng Ka Long Angus. Against the senior player from Hong Kong, Alwi lost with scores of 10-21, 16-21.

The result ended Alwi's victory over Ng in two meetings this year, namely in the second round of the Thailand Masters and the first round of the Asian Championship in China.

From the beginning to the end of the 45-minute match in Denmark, Alwi could not escape the pressure from his opponent. The 20-year-old Indonesian player only led twice in the score, namely at 1-0 in the first game and 3-2 in the second game.

"I feel that my performance was very disappointing today, I was late at the start and could not turn the situation around until the end of the match. It's not an excuse, but I do feel some discomfort in my hamstring," said Alwi.

Given the current situation, Alwi will focus on recovering from his hamstring injury to participate in the upcoming tournament, the French Open, from October 21 to 26. This will be the first time Alwi competes in both the Denmark and French Opens, which are both classified as Super 750 level tournaments.

The 2023 junior world champion has only had experience participating in the European tour when competing in the German Open and Orleans Masters in March, as well as the Swiss and Spanish Opens a year ago. His best result in those four tournaments was reaching the second round.

In addition to Alwi, Jonatan and Anthony Sinisuka Ginting will also compete in the Denmark Open. They will begin their appearances on Wednesday, with Jonatan facing Kenta Nishimoto and Anthony up against the host's mainstay, Anders Antonsen.

At the World Junior Championships in Guwahati, India, Indonesia's top seed in the singles event achieved a different result. Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah, the top seed in the men's singles, made his debut in the second round after receiving a bye in the first round. Zaki defeated Philip Kryger Boe, 15-13, 15-4, on Tuesday.

This championship for athletes aged 19 and under uses a different scoring system than other BWF championships, namely best of three games with 15 points (instead of 3x21).

A week earlier, in the mixed team championship category of the Suhandinata Cup, the BWF also implemented a scoring system that had never been used in other events, namely a three-round relay (three sets) with a maximum score of 45 points in each set. China won the Suhandinata Cup with this scoring system after defeating Indonesia in the final.

With a point system that is smaller compared to the 21-point scoring system, each player must quickly adapt to all conditions on the field and the playing style of the opponent. This is what Zaki did during his first match.

"The point system this time is quite fast and must be prepared in advance because if you are late, you will definitely miss out on many points. For me, this 15-point system is perhaps suitable, well, just suitable," said Zaki.

Zaki, the world number one junior singles player, has a strong foundation from the same event in Nanchang, China, in 2024. At that time, after leading Indonesia to victory in the mixed team event, Zaki became a semifinalist in the men's singles category.

In the individual competition, Zaki was accompanied by three of his colleagues, one of whom is Richie Duta Ricardo, who is the second seed. In 2024, Richie reached the quarter-finals.

The results obtained by Zaki differed from the sole female contender, Thalita Ramadhani Wiryawan. Thalita was unable to maintain her good performance in the mixed team event when competing in the individual category. Thalita, who was the seventh seed, lost to Shu Yu Wen (Taiwan) with scores of 15-12, 7-15, 8-15.