Malaysia Open 2026: Jonatan wins, Alwi returns
JAKARTA - Jonatan Christie managed to qualify for the second round of the 2026 Malaysia Open. He is also the only Indonesian male singles left in the BWF Super 1000 level tournament.
The fourth seed secured the ticket after locking in a straight two-game victory 21-18 and 21-14 against Chinese Taipei's Lee Chia Hao at the Axiata Arena, Kuala Lumpur, on Wednesday, January 7, 2026.
"First of all, praise God for being able to return to winning after the last few tournaments were a little less okay in terms of results, but in terms of the game I don't think there is much difference," said Jonatan.
This result ended Jonatan's bad record since he climbed to the highest podium at the Hylo Open 2025 event in early November. After that achievement, Jonatan got bad results at the Australia Open and BWF World Tour Finals 2025.
While playing in Australia, Jonatan's journey was stopped by Yushi Tanaka (Japan) in the first round. He then did not get a single victory in three matches at the BWF World Tour in December 2025.
"Today, I am more confident that it is possible. Most importantly, it was in terms of focus because I was behind at the beginning of the first game. That may be a homework for tomorrow's (match)," said Jonatan.
In the second round, Jonatan will meet Leong Jun Hao. The Malaysian men's singles qualified for the second round after stopping the Chinese representative, Wang Zheng Xing.
Jonatan and Leong have balanced statistics in the previous five competitive clashes. Leong leads with a 3-2 advantage after winning their last clash in the 2025 Singapore Open 16-finals.
"Tomorrow we meet Leong Jun Hao (Malaysia), against the host we have to prepare mentally first, the mind as well, because he will definitely be supported by many supporters, extraordinary supporters," said Jonatan.
Unfortunately, Jonatan's success was not followed by Alwi Farhan. The 2023 junior world champion and owner of the 2025 SEA Games gold medal went home in the first round after losing to Alex Lanier from France.