Fajar/Rian Extend Men's Doubles Bad Notes At The Olympics

JAKARTA - Men's doubles pair Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto extended Indonesia's men's doubles record at the Olympics after being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics.

The former world number one returned from France after losing two straight games 22-24 and 20-22 against the first seed from China, Liang WeiNY Wang Chang, on Thursday, August 1, 2024, WIB night.

The results obtained by Fajar/Rian made it clear that Indonesia's men's doubles number was without a medal in four consecutive Olympics since Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan won gold in Beijing 2008.

Rian said that their first experience at the Olympics was really not easy. The atmosphere of this tournament, he said, is much different from other events.

"Even from the beginning it was not easy. We felt how tense it was when we entered the field," he said in a statement received from PBSI.

Fajar/Rian's defeat made Indonesia's hope of getting a gold medal from badminton running low. In fact, the eight gold medals collected by Indonesia in Olympic history all came from the sport.

Of all that, the men's doubles is actually the most successful sector. This number has contributed a total of three gold medals for Indonesia or the most compared to other numbers.

Apart from Markis/Hendra, two other gold medals were contributed by the pair Rexy Mainaky/Ricky Subagja (Atlanta 1996) and Chandra Wijaya/Tony Gunawan (Sydney 2000).

"We apologize to the people of Indonesia, PBSI, NOC Indonesia for not being able to advance to the next round. Whatever the results, we are maximal," said Fajar.