Alwi Farhan, Comfortable in Macau, Reaches the Semifinals Again

MACAU, FRIDAY — The Macau Open badminton tournament seems to be a favorable venue for Indonesia's men's singles player, Alwi Farhan. Alwi reached the semifinals in two consecutive participations.

The 2025 Macau Open semifinals, which will take place on Saturday (2/8/2025), were reached after Alwi defeated Hong Kong player Jason Gunawan. In the quarterfinals held at the Macau East Asian Games Dome on Friday (1/8/2025), Alwi won with a score of 21-17, 21-15.

Alwi reached his first semifinal this year and the second since actively competing in the BWF World Tour tournaments in 2024. The previous semifinal was also in the same tournament in 2024. However, he lost to the senior athlete Hong Jong, Ng Ka Long Angus, who ultimately became the champion.

A year ago, Alwi competed in Macau as the 45th-ranked men's singles player in the world. The additional ranking points gained from participating in more BWF tournaments have elevated Alwi's position in the world rankings. Currently, Alwi is ranked 25th and is the fifth seed.

"I feel grateful to have reached the semifinals, but I am not satisfied yet; there is still a match tomorrow. My performance is improving, and I hope to maintain this momentum," commented Alwi.

Good momentum and improved performance are two factors that the 20-year-old athlete must bring to the semifinals. Moreover, he will be facing the second seed from India, Lakhsya Sen, which will mark their first encounter.

Like Alwi, who achieved success at the junior level by becoming the 2023 world champion, Sen has a strong track record since his junior days. He was a semifinalist in the 2018 Junior World Championship.

Sen, Li Shi Feng, Kodai Naraoka, and Kunlavut Vitidsarn (2018 junior world champion) are four semifinalists from the 2018 Junior World Championship who have the potential to progress at the senior level. Sen was a semifinalist at the 2021 World Championship, while Vitidsarn became the world champion in 2023.

Although his performance since 2023 has not been as good as in 2022, including being a finalist at All England, Sen must still be taken seriously. He has more competitive experience in tight competitions and against top athletes in the world.

In addition to Alwi, the semifinal tickets were secured by Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Mohammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani, Amri Syahnawi/Nita Violina Marwah, and Meilysa Trias Puspitasari/Rachel Alessya Rose.

Meilysa/Rachel won the longest quarterfinal match against their training partners at the national training center, Apriyani Rahayu/Febi Setianingrum. Meilysa/Rachel triumphed with a score of 21-15, 15-21, 21-18 after competing for one hour and 29 minutes.

Apriyani/Febi actually had the opportunity to avenge their defeat that occurred in the first round of the Thailand Open in May. They closed in on a score of 18-19 after trailing 8-18 in the third game; however, Meilysa/Rachel managed to maintain their lead and will face the second seeds, Hsieh Pei Hsan/Hung En Tzu (Taiwan) in the semifinals.

After the Macau Open, Apriyani/Febi, Meilysa Trias, and the main national training women's doubles will change partners. According to a statement released by PP PBSI on Friday, the partner exchange will occur among four pairs.

The current formation, namely Apriyani/Febi, Meilysa/Rachel, Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi, and Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti/Lanny Tria Mayasari, has changed to Amalia, Lanny, Rachel/Febi, Febriana/Meilysa, and Apriyani/Fadia.

Apriyani/Fadia is actually an established pairing that has been competing in the BWF World Tour since June 2022. However, they parted ways when Apriyani was absent from tournaments for seven months following the Paris 2024 Olympics.

Women's doubles coach Karel Mainaky stated that the remaining five months in 2025 will be used to form a different lineup in order to find the best pair. The target is to prepare them to compete at a high level in 2026, and then participate in the Olympic qualification in 2027.

"In the remaining months of this year, I want to see four women's doubles pairs accumulate as many points as possible in the tournament. Thus, next year they can directly participate in higher-level tournaments," said Karel.