Fajar/Fikri Break China's Dominance with a Carefree Performance

CHANGZHOU, SATURDAY – Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, Indonesia's representatives, have advanced to the men's doubles final of the 2025 China Open badminton tournament. Indonesia has the opportunity to break the drought in winning major tournaments in 2025 through this pair.

After the atmosphere at the Changzhou Olympics Sports Centre was lively with the cheers of spectators watching their proud athletes win the first through seventh semifinals, on Saturday (26/7/2025), the mood changed during the eighth semifinal. Fajar/Fikri halted the excitement by defeating the number one men's doubles team from China, Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang, with a score of 21-19, 21-17.

In the previous seven matches, five in the first session and two in the second session, the players from China were unstoppable against the other athletes. The only representatives who managed to force the home players to play three games were the Indonesian doubles team, Jafar Hidayatullah/Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu. They surprised their opponents, although they ultimately lost to the mixed doubles ranked second in the world, Jiang Zhen Bang/Wei Ya Xin (2/China) with scores of 21-16, 15-21, 16-21.

Top athletes from other categories, such as Anders Antonsen, Akane Yamaguchi, and Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan, lost in two games. An Se-young, who dominated the women's singles competition, was even unable to finish her match against Han Yue due to injury. An ultimately failed to win all Super 1000 level tournaments after securing titles at the Malaysia Open, All England, and Indonesia Open.

The defeat of those players will result in a final between Chinese players in four categories, except for men's doubles. The championship title in this category will be contested by Fajar/Fikri and the Malaysian players, Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik. In the semifinals, Chia/Soh defeated Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty (India) with a score of 21-13, 21-17.

Chia/Soh reached their fifth final out of seven tournaments since being accompanied by Herry Iman Pierngadi, the former coach of the Indonesian men's doubles team. Out of those five finals, they have won three times.

However, among the four titles they have won from the BWF World Tour, Chia/Soh have never claimed a championship at the Super 1000 level. In fact, they are the bronze medalists from the Tokyo 2020 and Paris 2024 Olympics and became world champions in 2022. The motivation of the men's doubles team, ranked second in the world, to secure their first title at the Super 1000 level must be taken seriously by Fajar/Fikri.

In addition, Chia/Soh have a factor that could be an advantage in the final, namely their superiority in encounters with Fajar and Fikri along with their regular partners. Chia/Soh lead 6-4 (including victories in the last two meetings) against Fajar/Muhammad Rian Ardianto and have won in their only encounter with Fikri/Daniel Marthin.

Nevertheless, Fajar/Fikri can leverage their status as "underdogs" to play without pressure, as demonstrated in the four matches from the first round to the semifinals. They are able to rotate on the court effectively, even though they both hold the status of front players (attack organizers) alongside their respective partners.

We can enjoy the match without the burden of not being a real couple. - Fajar Alfian

That role became the advantage of Fajar/Fikri in playing tactically when defeating Liang/Wang and the world number one men's doubles team, Seo Seung-jae/Kim Won-ho (South Korea) in the quarter-finals. When it was difficult to compete in smash power with their opponents, Fajar/Fikri displayed cleverness by controlling the game from the front court.

In addition to the variation in service direction that is difficult for opponents to anticipate, quick points are gained from service returns. After serving, Fikri is always alert at the net to intercept the opponent's shots, making it difficult for Liang/Wang to develop their game.

That performance was achieved thanks to a carefree mindset in every match. Although experienced in competing in the BWF World Tour tournaments, Fajar/Fikri were overshadowed by the top men's doubles in the China Open.

"We were able to enjoy the match and felt no pressure because we are not the original pair. The semifinal was not easy because, in addition to facing Liang/Wang, we also had to contend with a stadium that was incredibly enthusiastic in supporting the home players. We tried to relax and focus more," said Fajar.

Fajar and Fikri collaborated because their respective partners were resting from the tournament. Rian was absent to accompany his wife who was giving birth to their first child, while Daniel was recovering from a left knee injury. In addition, as a player ranked in the top ten at the end of 2024, Fajar indeed had the obligation to participate in the Super 750 and 1000 tournaments to avoid penalties from BWF.

Before China opened up, Fajar/Fikri competed in the Japan Open but lost in the quarter-finals in a tight match against the then-world number one pair, Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izuddin.

If they can win the final challenge at the China Open, Fajar/Fikri will become the first representatives of Indonesia to win a high-level BWF World Tour tournament in 2025. At the Super 750 and 1000 levels, Indonesia's best results are the finals reached by Leo Rolly Carnando/Bagas Maulana at the All England and Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Mohammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani at the Indonesia Open.

The championship title for Indonesia was recently achieved at the Super 300 level, specifically through Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti at the Thailand Masters and Jafar/Felisha at the Taiwan Open.

For Jafar/Felisha, their journey through four rounds at the China Open serves as a lesson and evaluation for their performance at a larger event, the World Championship. This major tournament within the BWF championship structure will be held in Paris, France, from August 25 to 31. For the first time, Jafar/Felisha have been included in the invitation list from BWF to participate in the World Championship.

"We will evaluate both the significant and minor aspects of the tournament here, to improve further. We are quite pleased with our performance here as we were able to match the top pairs. It feels like our level is not far from theirs. However, we need to be more consistent on the court," said Felisha.

Jafar mentioned several factors that needed to be improved for the World Championships, one of which was improving his composure. Jafar's facial expression showed signs of tension before the interval of the third game in the semifinals, leading to numerous unforced errors. Felisha tried to calm him down.

After the interval, the 22-year-old athlete was finally able to release the tension and equalize the score against his opponent at 14-14 after trailing 6-11. However, competing against top world players requires consistent performance, one of which is reducing errors. This has become another factor that highlights the shortcomings of Jafar/Felisha.

Every time they needed a single point to equalize the score, they fell behind again due to mistakes. For instance, when trailing 16-17, Jafar failed to serve, causing the shuttlecock to hit the net and fall on their own side of the court.

"We must reduce mistakes on crucial points. In the previous match, the opponent actually made mistakes, but we made more. I need to be able to control myself, especially when the game is not going as expected," Jafar stated while evaluating himself.

The semifinal of the China Open marked the highest achievement for Jafar/Felisha since they partnered in August 2024. Their skills have been honed through training and tournaments, starting from the International Challenge level, Super 100, and then advancing to the BWF World Tour, which consists of Super 300, 500, 750, and 1000.

When their position in the world rankings begins to enter the top 30 in 2025—currently at the 14th position—Jafar/Felisha will be entitled to compete in the Super 750 and 1000 tournaments held without qualifying rounds. In this event, technical, physical, and mental training is gained when facing top world pairs.

At the China Open, they defeated two pairs ranked in the top ten in the world before being stopped by Jiang/Wei, the second-ranked mixed doubles team. Jafar/Felisha defeated the sixth-ranked pair, Goh Soon Huat/Lai Shevon Jemie (Malaysia), in the first round, and Tang Chun Man/Tse Ying Tsuet (Hong Kong/5) in the quarter-finals.

From the Junior Asia Championship in Surakarta, Central Java, Indonesia's chances of winning lie in the men's singles and mixed doubles events. The top-ranked junior men's singles player, Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah, will face Liu Yang Ming Yu after defeating fellow Indonesian player, Fardhan Rainanda Joe, with a score of 21-16, 21-17.

The final among Indonesian players in the men's singles did not occur as Richie Duta Ricardo lost to Liu in the semifinals, 12-21, 8-21. In the mixed doubles, Ikhsan Lintang Pramudya/Rinjani Kwinara Nastine defeated the top seeds from South Korea, Lee Hyeong-woo Lee/Cheon Hye-in, 21-14, 22-20. They will also compete for the championship title against the Chinese players, Chen Jun Ting/Cao Zi Han.

Rinjani ultimately only advanced to the final in the mixed doubles category after losing in the semifinals of the women's doubles. Rinjani/Riska Anggraini were eliminated by the Thai pair, Hathaithip Mijad/Napapakorn Tungkasatan, with scores of 14-21, 19-21.