Women's Team Knocked Out Early at Denmark Open

ODENSE, THURSDAY – After reaching the semifinals of the 2024 Denmark Open, this time, Putri Kusuma Wardani was eliminated earlier. The Indonesian women's singles player lost in the second round, an early stage of the tournament that she rarely experiences in 2025.

Putri lost to Japanese player Tomoka Miyazaki at the JYSKE Bank Arena, Odense, on Thursday (16/10/2025), with a score of 21-15, 12-21, 17-21. This defeat before reaching the quarter-finals is the first time Putri has experienced such a loss since being eliminated in the first round of the China Open last July.

In the 2025 competition season, the 23-year-old athlete performed more consistently compared to previous years. Out of 15 championships, Putri reached the quarter-finals or better ten times, one of which was when she advanced to the semi-finals of the World Championship in France in August. However, that good result was halted by Miyazaki, the 19-year-old junior world champion of 2022.

Before competing in Denmark, Putri and Miyazaki faced each other in four matches, with Putri holding a 3-1 advantage. Two of those three victories occurred in 2025, specifically in two games at the Japan Open in June and the World Championship in France in August. However, Putri was unable to replicate the same success in Denmark.

After playing well in the first game, Putri struggled to control her play in the second game. In a "wind advantage" position, where the wind blows from behind her, Putri found it difficult to control her shots. She repeatedly made mistakes with smashes directed towards the sidelines of her opponent's court. The shuttlecock consistently landed outside the singles court lines.

The competition in the third game was tighter compared to the previous two games. This decisive game was marked by alternating score advantages gained by both players. Putri took the lead first, 4-1, then fell behind 4-6, regained the lead at 9-6, and was ahead 11-10 at the interval.

The physical endurance and strategy battle occurred after an interval when both players forced their opponents to move more by directing the shuttlecock to different corners, from the right side to the left, or from the back to near the net. At this moment, Miyazaki was able to defend better. Putri was also unable to meet the world number one player, An Se-young, who was supposed to be her opponent in the quarter-finals.

With the defeat of Putri, Indonesia no longer has a representative in the women's singles category after Gregoria Mariska Tunjung lost in the first round. Gregoria competed after her last appearance at the World Championship. The bronze medalist of the Paris 2024 Olympics did not compete in China and Korea due to a recurrence of her vertigo.

Before Putri took the stage, Indonesia lost two representatives with the defeats of Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Mohammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani and Adnan Maulana/Indah Cahya Sari Jamil. Sabar/Reza lost to the fifth seeds from China, Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang, with scores of 14-21, 18-21, while Adnan/Indah were eliminated by Lee Jong-min/Chae Yu-jung (South Korea) with scores of 19-21, 19-21.

Sabar/Reza lost after leading at the beginning of the first game (with the widest margin at a score of 9-4) and nearing the end of the second game (18-14). However, between these two moments and after leading in the second game, Sabar/Reza frequently lost points in succession. The men's doubles team ranked 11th in the world failed to capitalize on the opportunity to extend the match to three games when they lost seven consecutive points after leading 18-14.

Liang/Wang were able to score points quickly and consecutively due to their advantage in the initial strikes, from the serve to the third hit. When the silver medalists from the Paris 2024 Olympics were able to apply pressure from the opening shots, Sabar/Reza found it difficult to develop their game.

"We could not capitalize on opportunities because we played hastily at several points. There were also lapses in crucial moments that allowed the opponents to recover, but it must be acknowledged that Liang/Wang also played very well today," said Sabar.

The results in Denmark added to the defeats of Sabar/Reza in the first two rounds after reaching the semifinals of the All England in March and the finals of the Indonesia Open in June. After making it to the finals of the Indonesia Open, Sabar/Reza only managed to reach the quarterfinals or beyond in two out of more than five tournaments, specifically when they competed in the finals of the Macau Open Super 300 and the quarterfinals of the Hong Kong Open Super 500.

In addition to Sabar/Reza, two other Indonesian men's doubles pairs competed in the second round, which took place from Thursday midnight to early Friday morning local time. The China Open champions, Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, faced the home players, Daniel Lundgaard/Mads Vestergaard. Meanwhile, the newly formed pair, Muhammad Rian Ardianto/Rahmat Hidayat, went up against Takumi Nomura/Yuichi Shimogami (Japan).

Rian/Rahmat made a surprise by defeating the second seeds, Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik, in the first round. In the same round, Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izuddin (Malaysia/3) and Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen (Denmark/4) were also eliminated.

The men's doubles finally lost four top seeds in the first two rounds when the top seeds, Seo Seung-jae/Kim Won-ho, were defeated in the second round. The world champions from South Korea were eliminated by Nur Mohd Azryn Ayub/Tan Wee Kiong (Malaysia) with scores of 19-21, 14-21.

At the Junior World Championship, Indonesia's men's singles player, Richie Duta Ricardo, opened up the opportunity to achieve a better result compared to the quarter-finals of the 2024 Junior World Championship. The second seed advanced to the quarter-finals after defeating the tenth seed from Japan, Kazuma Kawano, 15-9, 15-13, in Guwahati, India, on Thursday.

The quarterfinal ticket was secured by another Indonesian player, Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah, who is the top seed. Zaki, a semifinalist in 2024, defeated Riyan Malhan 15-9, 15-6 and will face Wu Zi Sheng in the quarterfinals. Zaki hopes to play without pressure in the quarterfinals with improved focus.

Meanwhile, Indonesian female player Rinjani Kwinara Nastine advanced to the quarter-finals in two events, namely women's doubles and mixed doubles. Rinjani partnered with Riska Anggraini in women's doubles, which is seeded fourth. Meanwhile, alongside Ikhsan Lintang Pramudya, Rinjani is seeded ninth in mixed doubles.