Ranked eighth in the world and seeded third in the tournament, he had been the favorite to win against Weng Hong Yang of China in the final on Sunday (10/4/2022) at Palma Stadium in Suncheon, South Korea.
By
NASRULLAH NARA
·6 minutes read
SUNCHEON, SUNDAY — Maintaining focus and momentum is pivotal for athletes during a game. Letting them lose their concentration, even just for a fraction of a second, while the game is still in play can eliminate the victory that is in sight, as Jonatan Christie recently experienced.
The Indonesian men’s singles star found his collapse in the Korea Open final heartbreaking, given that he just needed two points to bring home the title and his career-best individual achievement in the BWF World Tour Super 500.
Ranked eighth in the world and seeded third in the tournament, he had been the favorite to win against Weng Hong Yang of China in the final on Sunday (10/4/2022) at Palma Stadium in Suncheon, South Korea.
After winning the first game easily, Jonatan led 19-16 in the second game and stood within a stroke of gaining another two points to realize his long-held target to win a Super 500 or above in the BWF World Tour. Launched in 2018, the BWF World Tour series range from the Super 300, Super 500 and Super 750 levels up to the most prestigious level, the Super 1000.
Jonatan has three titles to his name, but all are from the Super 300, namely the New Zealand Open and the Australian Open in 2019 and most recently, the Swiss Open 2022 he won two weeks back.
Taking on Weng, who advanced in the Korea Open only after seventh seed Rasmus Gemke of Denmark withdrew, Jonatan performed well at the start, thanks to his composure that enabled him to control the pace of the game. He managed to avoid rushing his game and launched his attacks at the right moments to score points.
Weng put up a better fight in the second game, but Jonatan still held the upper hand, including net plays. At 19-16, he was gifted with the chance to make it a match point when his opponent was forced to hit a lame return over the net. Jonatan rushed forward with a backhand smash. Weng somehow held his nerve against Jonatan’s onslaught and, to Jonatan’s surprise, managed to return the shuttlecock.
It proved a turning point for Weng, who eventually snatched the second game by winning five points on the trot.
After that, Jonatan lost his composure and fell behind 10-16. He battled back to make it 15-16, but this was all he could deliver and he eventually lost 21-12, 19-21, 15-21. When Weng landed a smash for match point, Jonatan was left crouching on the field, leaning his body against his racket. His dejection was evident on his face.
Jonatan had reached the same stage in higher tournaments, but his collapses at the Super 750 finals of the Japan Open and French Open in 2019 had not occurred as close to the finish line as it did in his encounter with Weng. In the France and Japan finals, the men's singles gold medal winner at the 2018 Jakarta Palembang Asian Games lost in two games.
His regret was clearly visible for having narrowly missed his chance.
“I was close to winning my first Super 500. However, at 19-16, [I found] the opponent could hold on. He was good and up to such a moment. In the third game, he was finally able to pull more confidence after releasing himself from the pressure,” Jonatan said.
Jonatan competed at the Korea Open after playing in three tournaments in Europe over the past three weeks. He was eliminated in the second round of the German Open Super 300 and in the quarterfinals of the All England Super 1000, and won the Swiss Open Super 300.
He brushed aside suggestions that playing in the preceding tournaments might have tired him and caused him to falter in Korea. "All the players might have felt tired also. Today, I was not able to apply a good strategy at crucial points," he said.
Men’s doubles final
Indonesia's hopes of winning the men's doubles title with Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto also crumbled. They seemed unable to match the speed of South Korean pair, Kang Min-hyuk and Seo Seung-jae, in their 21-19, 15-21, 18-21 defeat.
Kang-Seo emerged as the champions after shrugging off Indonesia’s domination in the semifinals. Indonesia was represented by three men's doubles pairs in the last four, which was a repeat of the All England, although that outcome was different. Kang-Seo had reached the final with a win over Hendra Setiawan-Mohammad Ahsan, while Fajar-Rian had secured their ticket to the final by beating Muhammad Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana.
"In today's match, we lost the game over the net. We must be able to correct it when meeting them again,” Rian said.
Fajar pointed to improving stamina and composure over the next events.
This year's Thomas Cup and women’s team competition, the Uber Cup, are scheduled to take place on 8-15 May in Bangkok, Thailand.
Fajar-Rian, Jonatan and the other members of the men’s squad have a month to work on their weak points before embarking on their mission to defend the Thomas Cup title. This year's Thomas Cup and women’s team competition, the Uber Cup, are scheduled to take place on 8-15 May in Bangkok, Thailand.
Before heading to Bangkok, a number of players, such as Jonatan, Fajar-Rian, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, and Hendra-Ahsan, will take part in the Asia Championships on 26 April-1 May in Manila, the Philippines. As they are Indonesia’s top-ranked players, their appearance at Manila is mandatory.
Like the World Championships, only qualified players according to their world rankings may play the Asia Championships. Based on the quota system, Indonesia is allowed four men's singles players and four doubles pairs.
"The participating players have the best rankings. However, Kevin-Marcus will not be able to join because Marcus will not be available. They will be replaced by other players. Their replacements will still be based on the ranking according to the rules," said men's doubles coach Herry Iman Pierngadi.
While Indonesia returned home empty-handed from the Korea Open, the host won three titles. Apart from Kang-Seo, the Korean team triumphed with An Se-young (women's singles) and Jeong Na-eun-Kim Hye-jeong (women's doubles). The mixed doubles title went to Tan Kian Meng-Lai Pei Jing (Malaysia). (IYA)