Tight Schedule: Indonesian Ambassadors Skip Two Rounds in One Day at the Asian Junior Championships

SURAKARTA, THURSDAY – In addition to their opponents, athletes competing in the Asian Junior Badminton Championship in Solo, Central Java, face another challenge. The tight schedule requires them, especially those playing in more than one event, to compete two to three times a day.

On the second day of the championship at GOR Manahan, Thursday (24/7/2025), Ikhsan/Rinjani began their performance by competing in the third round. They won against the Indian pair, Vishnu Kedhar Kode/Keerthy Manchala, with a score of 21-18, 21-19.

The match was the second for Ikhsan on Thursday after competing in the men's doubles event. Ikhsan/Devin played in the first round early Thursday morning and won against Shunki Harigawa/Mahiro Matsumoto (Japan) with a score of 21-15, 21-9.

"The men's doubles match just finished around 03:00. Therefore, to prepare for other matches, I need to maintain my condition, such as by consuming good food and taking vitamins," said Ikhsan.

The match between Ikhsan/Devin and Harigawa/Matsumoto was actually listed on the schedule for Wednesday, along with the second round of mixed doubles featuring Rinjani. However, the packed schedule resulted in dozens of matches taking place in the early hours of the morning.

Although the seeded players received a bye in the first round, the sheer number of matches to be played made the first and second days of the tournament long. Furthermore, the men's singles, women's singles, and mixed doubles events were contested using a 128-draw system, while the men's and women's doubles were contested using a 64-draw system.

The first day featured 155 matches in the first and second rounds across five courts. With 120 matches held on the second day, the situation was not much different. Many matches were delayed by more than an hour from the estimated schedule.

The fourth-round match of Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah against Lee Lok Him (Macau), which was originally scheduled for 5:00 PM WIB on the official BWF website, only took place just before 8:00 PM WIB. Fortunately, Zaki won it in just 30 minutes with a score of 21-14, 21-9, thus advancing to the quarter-finals. This moment marked Zaki's second match on Thursday after winning the third round against Lo Trieu Huy (Vietnam) 21-11, 21-7 earlier in the morning.

Indonesia's sole female representative, Thalita Ramadhani Wiryawan, also competed in two rounds in one day against the second seed, Tanvi Sharma (India), in the quarter-finals. In the fourth round, Thalita was forced to play three games by Japanese player, Yuzung Watanabe, with scores of 23-21, 15-21, 21-16.

As the only Indonesian representative in the women's singles, seeded fifth, Thalita has taken this status as additional motivation. "I want to give my best for the women's singles with the goal of overcoming challenges one by one," said the player who represented Indonesia at the 2023 Junior World Championship.

A denser schedule was undertaken by Rinjani on the second day. He played alongside Ikhsan in the third round on Thursday afternoon, followed by the fourth round that evening. Not stopping there, Rinjani was scheduled for a women's doubles fourth round match that took place early Friday morning. Rinjani/Riska faced the South Korean pair, Kim Bo-hye/Lee Ga-hyun.