China Open 2024: Jonathan Meets Popov, Prioritizes Meeting Records

JAKARTA Indonesian men's singles badminton player, Jonantan Christie, will meet Toma Junior Popov after he made sure he reached the second round of the 2024 China Open.

Jonathan secured a ticket to the second half after stopping the Danish men's singles, Rasmus Gemke, two straight games 22-20 and 21-18 on Wednesday, September 18, 2024, evening WIB.

The positive win was Jonathan's second straight win over Gemke in two most recent tournaments. Another win came when they met in the round of 16 of the Hong Kong Open 2024 last week.

As a whole, the victory was Jonathan's fifth to Gemke. Of the total six clashes, the one-one victory that Gemke secured occurred when they met at the Denmark Open 2019.

"The most significant thing about today's victory compared to last week's meeting at the Hong Kong Open 2024 is field conditions. The wind is faster. So, the strategy and pattern of the game must be different," said Jonatan.

Meanwhile, Popov, who was Jonathan's opponent in the second half, managed to get past the first round by beating Malaysia's singles, Leong Jun Hao, in a tight three-game match.

Popov and Jonathan have previously clashed three times. Of all these clashes, Jonathan is always recorded as the winner.

The results obtained by Jonathan made Indonesia have two men's singles in the second round of the tournament. The 2018 Asian Games gold medalist followed his colleague Anthony Sinisuka Ginting.

Ginting had already received a ticket to the second half on the first day, Tuesday, September 17, 2024. He qualified by stopping his colleague, Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo.

In total, Indonesia has six representatives who reached the second round of 10 representatives sent to the China Open 2024. Jonathan is one of the four representatives who qualified today, trailing two tickets on the first day yesterday.