India Open 2024: Jonathan Christie Loses Against Lee Zii Jia

JAKARTA Indonesian men's singles badminton player, Jonatan Christie, lost to Lee Zii Jia in the second round of the 2024 India Open.

Jonathan gave up two straight games 15-21 and 13-21 against the Malaysian representative at the BWF Super 750 level event on Thursday, January 18, 2024, evening WIB.

In this match, Jonathan only performed well in the first game. He was recorded twice as having the opportunity to lead his opponent.

"Actually, from the start, try to make as much as possible not to be easily turned off or not die a lot by yourself. However, in the middle of the first game, it was felt that the opponent's smashes were fast to penetrate my defense. It damaged the strategy that had been planned," said Jonathan after the match.

In the second game, Jonathan managed to steal the first point, but the opponent scored four points in a row to get back in the lead. After that, Jojo really had a hard time chasing that points gap.

"Several times he tried to change the pattern, but it still hasn't worked. This is a lesson, when I meet him, I have to be able to hinder his attack. Earlier he wanted to immediately hold the front game so that he continued to get the ball of attack," said Jojo.

This defeat makes Jonathan now have a 4-5 winning-loss record. Five of his defeats to Lee came in their five latest clashes.

In addition, this result also extends Jonathan's grim record earlier this year. Previously at the Malaysia Open 2024 last week, Jonathan's journey even ran aground earlier.

At that time, the 2018 Asian Games gold medalist stopped in the first half after losing to India's representative, Kidambi Srikanth.

Jonathan is the third representative of Indonesia who was eliminated in the round of 16 of the India Open 2024. Previously, the women's singles Gregoria Mariska Tunjung and mixed doubles Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto/Lisa Ayu Kusumawati had already died.

Gregoria returned home after losing against Singapore's representative, Yeo Jia Min, while Rehan/Lisa lifted a suitcase after being tackled by a Chinese partner Taipei, Ye Hong Wei/Lee Chia Hsin.