The rise of the Indonesian shuttling pair Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto tightens the competition for Indonesia’s men’s doubles representative in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
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HUMAS PP PBSI
Indonesian pair Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto at the Korea Open badminton tournament in Incheon Airport Skydome on Sunday (29/9/2019).
INCHEON, SUNDAY – The rise of the Indonesian shuttling pair Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto tightens the competition for Indonesia’s men’s doubles representative in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. As the country improves its chances of securing two spots in men’s doubles in the Olympics, other countries may suffer by not securing the maximum quota. The Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) will have to make the right choices in order to win gold.
A title from the Korea Open (BWF Super 500) tournament, held at the Incheon Airport Skydrome, was a sign for Fajar and Rian’s resurgence following a series of poor performances earlier this year. In the Open’s finals on Sunday (29/9/2019), the “Red and White” men’s doubles pair, affectionately called “Fajri” by fans, defeated Takeshi Kimura and Keigo Sonoda 21-16, 21-17.
This was Fajar and Rian’s first final match and title after winning the Swiss Open Super 300 in March. The Swiss title, together with those in the semifinals of All England (Super 1000) and Malaysia Open (Super 750), made them world’s fifth men’s doubles pair on 16 April to 21 May, below their compatriots Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon (No. 1) and Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan (No. 4).
However, in five subsequent tournaments, they were defeated three times in the second game and once in the first game. They could only reach the quarterfinals once. Because of this, Fajar and Rian fell to seventh position in the World Ranking, as their seniors Hendra and Ahsan rose to become World No. 2.
HUMAS PP PBSI
Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto.
In the position, it would not be difficult to brush off their names from the list of Indonesia’s potential representatives to Tokyo 2020. However, in the ongoing Olympics qualification period that will end on 26 April 2020, Fajar and Rian are resurging. The semifinal of a World Championship in Basel, Switzerland, was the start.
Afterwards, they reached the Taiwan Open quarterfinals (300), China Open semifinals (1000) and won the Korea Open (500). “Alhamdulillah [Praise God], we can win this today. Hopefully, we can be more consistent in the future,” Fajar said, as quoted on the PBSI’s official website.
Following up on Fajar’s comment, Rian said that they were only champions in the Korea Open. “There are many more tournaments that we will have to go through. We must strive further and train more,” Rian said.
Confidence returns
The Indonesian national badminton training camp’s men’s doubles assistant coach, Aryono Miranat, who was in Incheon, said that Fajar and Rian’s confidence had returned. “Their confidence improved and so has their consistency and focus,” Aryono said.
HUMAS PP PBSI
Indonesian pair Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto defeat Takeshi Kamura and Keigo Sonoda of Japan 21-16-21-17 to clinch the men’s doubles title at the Korea Open badminton tournament in Incheon Airport Skydome on Sunday (29/9/2019). The title marks a comeback for Fajar and Rian after a series of poor performances in mid-2019.
The results of their five latest tournament will enable them to bounce back to the fifth position in the World Ranking by this week. Indonesia will have three pairs among the World’s Top 5 men’s doubles.
If the pairs can maintain their ranks, at least in the Top 8, until the end of the qualification period, Indonesia will get a maximum quota of two representatives in men’s doubles in Tokyo 2020. This will decrease other countries’ chance for the maximum quota. In line with regulations from the Badminton World Federation (BWF), countries can earn a quota of two representatives in doubles if they can put at least two pairs in the Top 8.
On the other hand, the PBSI and the coach team will have the difficult task of choosing two representative pairs to clinch gold in Tokyo 2020. Despite being seen as Indonesia’s strength, the country failed to win gold in men’s doubles in the past two Olympics.
Meanwhile, Kento Momota’s title in the Korea Open’s men’s singles became his eighth in 2019, including his third in the last three tournaments.
China’s He Bingjiao won in women’s singles, South Korea’s Kim So-yeong and Kong Hee-yong won in women’s doubles and Thailand’s Dechapol Puavaranukroh and Sapsiree Taerattanachai won in mixed doubles.
