Saved From The Pinhole, Jonathan Christie Qualifies For The Semifinals Of The Korea Open 2022

JAKARTA – Jonathan Christie survived the eye of a needle when he faced Thailand's Kunlavut Vitidsarn in the quarter-finals of the Korea Open 2022 at Palma Stadium, Suncheon, Korea, Friday, April 8.

The Swiss Open champion came from behind in the third set to reach the semifinals of this Super 500 tournament with a final score of 8-21, 21-17, 21-19 in 78 minutes.

Jonathan appeared really sluggish in the first set and there was little hope of winning in the next two sets. The owner of the 2018 Asian Games gold medal immediately lost the starting point and trailed 11-4 at the interval.

However, in the second set Jonathan made the game even tighter. He was trailing 11-6 after sharing an early ten-point average before slowly recovering and starting to take the lead from 16-16.

In the deciding set, Jonathan also had to fight back from being four points behind at 12-8. He slowly began to gain point by point until he won the match.

Next, Jonathan will face India's representative, Kidambi Srikanth (fifth seed). Kidambi reached the semifinals after defeating the vice-host Son Wanho.

The semifinal ticket was also obtained by mixed doubles Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari who defeated the Japanese pair Hiroki Midorikawa/Natsu Saito. This match also lasted three sets.

Representatives of Indonesia lost the first set before stealing victory in the following two sets with the final score 15-21, 21-18, 21-16. In the semifinals later, Rinov / Pitha will meet the second seed Malaysia Tan Kian Meng / Lai Pei Jing.

Meanwhile, Adnan Maulana/Mychelle Crhystine Bandoso mixed doubles failed to penetrate the semifinals. Their steps stopped after losing to the pair Ko Sung Hyun / Eom Hye Won.

Although they could not go any further, the Indonesian representatives managed to put up a tight fight against the host representatives. After losing the first set, Adnan/Mychelle got up and stole the second set before giving up in the decider.

Tight matches can be seen from the final score in each set. In the first and third sets where the Indonesian representatives lost, the scores ended 19-21 and 18-21, while in the second set the final score was 21-18.