Leo/Bagas Wasted Opportunity

SAARBRUCKEN, THURSDAY – Match point 20-19 was the closest Indonesian men's doubles pair Leo Rolly Carnando/Bagas Maulana came to reaching the quarterfinals of a badminton tournament, as they last did at the China Masters in mid-September. However, they squandered the opportunity and were eliminated in the second round of the 2025 Hylo Open.

Leo/Bagas lost to the Malaysian pair seeded third, Man Wei Chong/Tee Kai Wun, at Saarlandhalle, Saarbrucken, Germany, on Thursday (30/10/2025). They lost with a score of 9-21, 21-17, 20-22.

The defeat came after Leo/Bagas failed to secure the point they needed to win, when they had match point, 20-19, in the third game. Like a pendulum, momentum swung alternately towards the end of the third game.

Man/Tee led 19-17, but failed to capitalize on their opportunity and fell behind 19-20. Of Leo/Bagas' three additional points, two came from unforced errors by Man/Tee.

After that, the situation took a 180-degree turn. Leo/Bagas failed to capitalize on match point, a situation that should have been in their favor as they only needed one more point. One of the failures to add to the score was Bagas's failed smash, which made the score 20-20.

Leo/Bagas, one of the four men's doubles pairs from Indonesia at the Hylo Open, was ultimately eliminated when Leo failed to return the opponent's serve. Leo threw his racket into the air in a display of his frustration.

The result placed the Indonesian pair, ranked 15th in the world, in a position that could not escape from poor outcomes, at least after reaching the quarter-finals of the China Masters, held from September 16 to 21. Man/Tee was one of the pairs they defeated before being stopped by Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik.

After that, Leo/Bagas were eliminated in the first round of three consecutive tournaments, namely the Korea Open, Denmark Open, and France Open, before competing in the Hylo Open 2025. The All England finalists were eliminated in the early rounds for the 11th time out of 16 tournaments.

Meeting Malaysia, we have to be more focused and more prepared because they are a good pair.

The defeat was also experienced by Muhammad Rian Ardianto/Rahmat Hidayat against the eighth seeds, Lee Jhe Huei/Yang Po Hsuan (Taiwan) with scores of 21-15, 16-21, 18-21. They failed to realize their determination to achieve better results after reaching the quarter-finals of the Denmark Open and losing in the second round of the France Open.

Rian/Rahmat struggled to anticipate the initial strikes from Lee/Yang in the second and third games. Although they did not achieve better results than in the other two tournaments, Rian sees a positive side in the European Tour with Rahmat, who has become his new partner.

"Although we have not yet been able to reach the podium, we have shown progress in the competition. The results are quite good, but there is still much homework that needs to be addressed," said Rian, who was paired with Rahmat after his previous partner, Fajar Alfian, played alongside Muhammad Shohibul Fikri.

The duo, which has reached the finals four times out of six tournaments, will once again be Indonesia's mainstay after their two teammates were eliminated. Fajar/Fikri defeated the home players, Bjarne Geiss/Jones Rafly Jansen, with scores of 21-17, 16-21, 21-13, and will face Man/Tee in the quarterfinals.

"Facing Malaysia, we have to be more focused and better prepared because they are a good pair," said Fikri.

Indonesia still has another men's doubles pair competing in the second round, Friday (31/10/2025) early morning Indonesian time. They are Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Mohammad Reza Pahelvi Isfahani, who are facing the French siblings, Christo Popov/Toma Junior Popov.

Players from the other three events also competed in the second round, which took place from Thursday midnight until early Friday morning Indonesian time. Among them were Jonatan Christie, Putri Kusuma Wardani, and Jafar Hidayatullah/Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu.