Fake Princess Still Held Hostage by Critical Point Challenge

TOKYO, FRIDAY — Putri Kusuma Wardani, Indonesia's women's singles player, performed better in her sixth encounter against the representative from China, Wang Zhi Yi. However, Putri still faced challenges when entering critical points. The challenge, especially when competing against a player of Wang's caliber, is to maintain focus and reduce self-errors.

Putri's ongoing struggle to overcome that challenge was evident in the second and third matches of the women's singles quarterfinals at the 2025 Japan Open held at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium, Japan, on Friday (18/7/2025). She could have pursued the score and at one point overtaken her opponent as she did in the first match. However, Putri ultimately lost with a score of 22-20, 17-21, 16-21.

The world number 11 singles player was the only Indonesian singles player to reach the quarter-finals. Her senior, Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, was eliminated in the first round, along with men's singles players Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and Jonatan Christie. Meanwhile, Alwi Farhan lost in the second round.

"I was less consistent in using techniques and strategies, while Wang Zhi Yi was approaching the end point in the third game. She tried to endure and used some speculative shots," said Putri.

In the first game, Putri was actually able to overcome the challenge of the final points. In fact, she started by trailing 17-20 before ultimately turning the situation around to win.

Putri played more patiently and slowed down the tempo, remaining unaffected by Wang's fast playing style. This strategy caused Wang to make many mistakes, which was advantageous for Putri.

Given the conditions on the field, we must be patient in developing our attacks and be prepared to be more tired. - Fajar Alfian -

In the second and third games, Putri made those mistakes, thwarting her efforts to gain the upper hand. Putri did, however, make things difficult for Wang with crosscourt drop shots that the world's second-ranked athlete couldn't reach. She also defended well, not just returning her opponent's attacks.

However, every time Putri approached to equalize the score, her shot instead hit the net or misjudged the fall of her opponent's shuttlecock, which turned out to be in.

This occurred, for instance, at positions 15-16 and 16-17 in the third game. After that, Wang scored four consecutive points, mostly due to errors made by Putri.

"I am quite satisfied but have not won yet. I have met almost all of China's top women's singles players and was only able to win in the first game, so there are still things that need to be improved, especially focusing on the final points of the deciding game. From 0-0 to point 21, I need to maintain my focus," said Putri.

With this result, Wang remains one of the top ten athletes in the world rankings who has yet to be defeated by Putri. In a total of six encounters, Putri has always lost to Wang.

The previous meeting took place at the 2025 Badminton Asia Championship in April. At that time, Putri lost 22-20, 16-21, 12-21. This match was one of three encounters between the two at the senior level. The first three meetings between Putri and Wang occurred at the junior level.

At the Japan Open, Indonesia sent a total of 13 representatives across five categories. However, only three representatives managed to advance to the quarter-finals. With Putri's defeat, Indonesia's hopes of placing a representative in the semifinals now rest on the men's doubles pair Fajar Alfian/M Shohibul Fikri and the women's doubles pair Lanny Tria Mayasari/Siti Fadia S Ramadhanti, both of whom will compete on Friday.

Fajar/Fikri challenged the top seeds from Malaysia, Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin. Lanny/Fania also faced the tournament's top seeds, Liu Sheng Shu/Tan Ning (China).

"The Malaysian team is known for their very strong and tight defense. Given the conditions on the field, we must be patient in building our attacks and be prepared to work harder," said Fajar before the match.