Malaysia Open 2024: Emotions Are The Cause Of Fajar/Rian's Failure

JAKARTA - Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto revealed that they could not control their emotions on the field, which was the reason they were eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Malaysia Open 2024.

The pair of defending champions certainly failed to defend their title after losing to the rubber games 21-16, 17-21, and 18-21 against Liang Wei Yekong/Wang Chang at the Axiata Arena, Kuala Lumpur, Friday, January 12, 2024.

"We are not satisfied with the results and the outside of the game. We must be able to control our emotions more so that our performance remains stable," said Fajar.

In the first game, Fajar/Rian could actually appear to dominate the match. The opponent's mistake prevented them from being overtaken after the same position 8-8.

In the second game they returned to lead the opponent until the interval. However, after that they were too hasty to get points which became a problem for them.

The victory in the second game made Liang/Wang more confident in the deciding game. On the other hand, Fajar/Rian appeared under pressure.

"In the third game they got their second win and returned to confidence so they played more in. We couldn't get out of the pressure," said Fajar.

This is the second consecutive defeat that Fajar/Rian got against the Chinese representative. The previous defeat occurred at the BWF World Tour Finals 2023.

Fajar/Rian's defeat made Indonesia run out of representatives in this Super 1000 level event. Previously, another Indonesian representative, namely Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, had already lost.