Leo/Bagas Still Inconsistent

SUWON, WEDNESDAY – Returning to the level of play that led to their victory at the 2024 Korea Open and their status as finalists at the 2025 All England is not an easy task for Leo Rolly Carnando/Bagas Maulana. There have always been obstacles that the Indonesian men's doubles badminton players could not overcome, resulting in six losses in the first two rounds of the last eight tournaments they participated in.

The latest defeat in the early round was experienced with their status as the defending champions of the Korea Open at the Suwon Gymnasium, Suwon, South Korea. Leo/Bagas lost to the home representatives who do not even have a world ranking as a pair, Lee Jong-min/Wang Chan, with a score of 18-21, 21-17, 22-24, in the first round, Wednesday (24/9/2025).

Lee/Wang faced Leo/Bagas with the status of players who had qualified from the qualifying round.

The result was worse compared to the quarter-finals of the China Masters, a week before the Korea Open took place. In fact, with the BWF World Tour Super 500 category, the Korea Open is of a lower level compared to the China Masters Super 750. In Suwon, Leo/Bagas were also placed as the eighth seed.

After the China Masters, Antonius Budi Ariantho, the coach of the Indonesian men's doubles national training team, hopes that Leo/Bagas can perform better. Antonius also aims for the men's doubles squad to achieve better results compared to the semifinal reached by Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri at the China Masters.

However, of the three representatives, only Fajar/Fikri managed to advance past the first round. The other pair, Muhammad Rian Ardianto/Yeremia Erich Yoche Yacob Rambitan, was also eliminated in the first round that took place on Tuesday.

Meeting for the first time with Lee/Wang, who each more frequently play mixed doubles in 2025, Leo/Bagas always fell behind in the first game. They secured the second game and had a great chance of winning the deciding game.

Leo/Bagas seemed poised to win the game easily when leading 11-4 at the interval. However, when they could not maintain their focus and good play, that advantage slipped away, allowing their opponents to narrow the gap to three and then one point. Moreover, the men's doubles match was played at a fast pace.

In a critical moment during the "old score" test, Leo/Bagas also did not pass. In fact, this weakness had been highlighted by Antonius during the China Masters.

They failed to capitalize on two match points at 20-19 and 22-21 due to unforced errors. Leo/Bagas' attacks, including a smash from midcourt, were blocked by Lee/Wang, which resulted in errors from either Leo or Bagas. Lee/Wang eventually overtook them by winning three consecutive points from a 21-22 deficit.

"After the deciding game interval, we could not take advantage of the situation. We were far ahead, but I made many mistakes myself. The opponent's defense was also tight, making it difficult to break through," said Leo.

Meanwhile, Bagas acknowledged that their performance has declined compared to the 2024 Korea Open. Partnering after the 2024 Paris Olympics, the performance and results achieved in the early tournaments opened up hopes that the duo of Leo/Bagas could become a new mainstay for Indonesia's men's doubles.

They reached the semifinals of the Japan Open in their debut, then won the Korea Open. They secured two semifinals from six other tournaments by the end of 2024.

Although their performance at the beginning of 2025 was not very good, having lost in the first round of the Indonesia Masters and the quarter-finals of the Thailand Masters, Leo/Bagas achieved their highest result as a pair by reaching the final of the All England.

There was a sense of passion and tension at the end of the second game, but I finally got over it.

After that, they seemed to lose all their best abilities. In the last eight tournaments, when Leo returned to action in late May after recovering from a left foot injury, they only managed to win two matches: reaching the third round of the World Championships (a first-round bye) and the quarterfinals of the China Masters. Furthermore, they were eliminated in the first or second round.

"This is an important lesson for us. We must work harder because all our opponents are strong," said Bagas, who previously partnered with Fikri.

After Leo/Bagas and Rian/Yeremia were eliminated, Indonesia's men's doubles team is left relying on Fajar/Fikri, who will face Kenya Mitsuhashi/Hiroki Okamura in the second round on Thursday. Although Fajar and Fikri have more experience in major tournaments, they must remain cautious of their opponents, as the Japanese pair defeated the second seeds, Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chan, in the first round.

In addition to Leo/Bagas, another Indonesian representative who also lost in the first round of the match on Wednesday was Adnan Maulana/Indah Cahya Sari Jamil. Meanwhile, seven other representatives emerged victorious.

Among the seven representatives, four of them are men's singles players, namely Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, Jonatan Christie, Alwi Farhan, and Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo.

Anthony finally relieved himself of the burden of always losing in the first round of five tournaments since returning to competition in July. He was absent for six months after participating in the Malaysia Open in January due to a right shoulder injury. In the first round of the Korea Open, Anthony defeated Yushi Tanaka 21-17, 21-17.

His younger teammate in the badminton national training center, Alwi, also relieved the pressure from a tight match against Leong Jun Hao. Alwi won with a score of 21-19, 26-24.

The intensity of the match was marked by a duration of one hour and one minute, despite only lasting two games. Additionally, the largest score difference was four points, which only occurred at two moments, namely when Alwi led 13-9 and 18-14 in the second game.

After gaining that advantage, Alwi did not secure victory quickly. The match even had the potential to go to three games as both players exchanged points from a score of 18-18 to 24-24.

Alwi thwarted Leong's game point three times, while Leong delayed Alwi's victory twice. "There was a sense of eagerness and tension at the end of the second game, but in the end, I was able to overcome it. I tried to remain calmer," said Alwi, who will face Lee Cheuk Yiu in the second round.

The victory was also achieved by Indonesia's sole women's singles player, Putri Kusuma Wardani. The fourth-seeded athlete defeated Anuparma Upadhyaya with a score of 21-16, 21-15 and will face Pai Yu Po in the second round.