Jafar/Felisha Learn from Three Consecutive Tournaments

SUWON, THURSDAY – Jafar Hidayatullah/Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu gained new lessons in their first year amidst the intense competition of the BWF World Tour. The Indonesian mixed doubles badminton players must learn to manage all factors to perform well in three consecutive tournaments.

For the first time, Jafar/Felisha participated in three tournaments over three weeks that took place in East Asia this September. They achieved the same result at the Hong Kong Open Super 500, China Masters Super 750, and Korea Open Super 500, which were held from September 9, 2025, namely losing in the second round.

Although they managed to reach the semifinals in one of the Super 1000 tournaments, namely the China Open, held from July 22 to 27, Jafar/Felisha still have homework to achieve consistency. After the China Open, they lost in the third round of the World Championship in France, which took place from August 25 to 31. At that time, Jafar played with a left ankle injury. Following that, they embarked on a tour in East Asia.

The defeat at the Korea Open, which took place at the Suwon Gymnasium on Thursday (25/9/2025), occurred during the match against the Danish players, Mathias Christiansen/Alejandra Boje. Jafar/Felisha lost with a score of 24-22, 19-21, 14-21, after competing for one hour and 20 minutes.

The match became the longest for Jafar/Felisha since they partnered in August 2024. Previously, they had played for one hour and 15 minutes to win the first round of the Asian Championship in Ningbo, China, in April.

Although Christiansen/Boje only ranks 69th in the world and entered the Korea Open from the qualifying round, they are experienced players. Christiansen is a doubles specialist who helped Denmark win the men's team championship at the Thomas Cup in 2016. In mixed doubles, Christiansen achieved his best position as the fourth-ranked pair in the world, alongside Christina Pedersen, in 2018.

However, the suspension received by Christiansen from the Danish Badminton Federation has caused him and Boje to be absent from September 2024 until July 2025. Christiansen, an athlete fluent in Indonesian, was suspended for failing to report his whereabouts when required to undergo doping tests.

Together with Boje, Christiansen has six BWF tournament titles from nine finals and became the eighth-ranked pair in the world in 2022. Therefore, Jafar/Felisha must work hard to earn every point, one of which was during a rally of 74 strokes in the second game.

Once he had established an attacking pattern, Jafar repeatedly made errors in his finishing, such as a drive that sent the shuttlecock over the net.

We dropped points not just once or twice, but more than that in a row. - Felisha Nathaniel Pasaribu -

Jafar/Felisha are increasingly struggling to keep up with their opponents in the deciding game due to a decline in physical condition and focus in the third week of the tournament. "Their defense was very strong at the end of the second game and throughout the third game. Undeniably, my energy started to wane, so I played with less patience," said Jafar.

Felisha said something similar. When conditions deteriorate, their patience, composure, physical fitness, and focus are tested.

"This is a new lesson for us, as it's our first time participating in three consecutive tournaments. So, we have to be smarter in our strategies to stay fit physically, mentally, and in our game plan even when we're already in decline. That's still our weakness," said Felisha.

Another aspect that the 19-year-old player evaluated is the numerous mistakes made by him and his teammates. "We wasted points not just once or twice, but more than that consecutively. We need to be able to solve this issue," said Felisha, who will face the next challenge on the tour in Europe in October.

Christiansen/Boje actually participated in their third tournament, which took place in the third week, during the Korea Open. However, due to their ranking being outside the top 40 in the world, they competed in two lower-level tournaments (Super 100) before playing in Suwon, namely the Vietnam Open and when they won the Indonesia Masters.

Another note for Jafar/Felisha after their defeat at the Korea Open is the statistics showing that they more frequently lose in three-game matches. In 2025, the pair ranked 11th in the world lost nine out of 14 three-game matches.

With the defeat of Jafar/Felisha, the mixed doubles category now has only one representative left, namely Amri Syahnawi/Nita Violina Marwah. Amri/Nita eliminated the sixth seeds, Hiroki Midorikawa/Natsu Saito, with a score of 21-19, 21-14, avenging their loss when they met in the second round of the Japan Open in July.

In the quarter-finals, Amri/Nita will face the All England champions ranked fifth in the world, Guo Xin Wa/Chen Fang Hui. "Thank God we could take revenge against Japan. Being able to defeat a seeded player who has won the Super 500 and a player ranked in the top ten in the world will certainly impact our confidence. Hopefully, from here we can continue to play without pressure," said Amri.

The victory recently experienced by Anthony Sinisuka Ginting came to an abrupt end when this men's singles player lost to Kenta Nishimoto, 18-21, 19-21 in the second round. This result was obtained just a day after he tasted his first victory in eight months.

Anthony defeated Yushi Tanaka in the first round, marking his first victory after the early rounds of the Malaysia Open in January. After losing in the second round in Malaysia, Anthony was absent from the tournament due to a right shoulder injury, before returning to competition in July.

The bronze medalist at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics had lost in the first round of each of her five championships until finally winning in Suwon.

However, Anthony cannot progress further. He still needs to improve the accuracy of his strikes and quickly find the right playing pattern to face opponents with different playing styles.

The defeat to Nishimoto was marked by a moment that could have led the match to a third game. Anthony had the opportunity to equalize after trailing 19-20 in the second game. The shuttlecock from Anthony's net shot, which appeared to land on the singles court line during the live TV broadcast, was declared out by the line judge.

Anthony protested the decision, but couldn't see the replay. Matches taking place outside the main court—Anthony and Nishimoto were on Court 3—were not equipped with cameras to accommodate players' requests for a challenge (a replay of the shuttlecock's footprint). Ultimately, Anthony upheld the referee's decision, awarding Nishimoto the point.

"The ball clearly went in, but perhaps the opponent's shout before the ball even touched the court startled the line judge, who instinctively decided to throw the ball out. Moving forward, I hope the BWF will address and improve cases like this, especially in matches on side courts where the Instant Replay System isn't available," Anthony said.

After defeating Anthony, Nishimoto will face another Indonesian player, Jonatan Christie, in the quarter-finals. Jonatan won against Lee Chia Haou with scores of 22-20, 15-21, 21-15.

Alwi Farhan will also appear in the quarterfinals after a walk-over victory over Lee Cheuk Yiu. Alwi has the opportunity to advance further in the Super 500 tournament after his quarterfinal exit at the Hong Kong Open. He must defeat Weng Hong Yang, as he did in the second round in Hong Kong.

Meanwhile, the journey of Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo and Apriyani Rahayu/Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti came to a halt in the second round. Chico lost to Chou Tien Chen with scores of 9-21, 17-21, while Apriyani/Fadia were eliminated by Lee So-hee/Baek Ha-na with scores of 12-21, 16-21.