JAKARTA - All five Indonesian representatives who fought in the second round of the 2026 Malaysia Open managed to continue their journey to the quarterfinals after Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Mohammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani also won.
Sabar/Reza, who are seeded eighth in the tournament, secured the last eight-man ticket thanks to a victory over Kang Min-hyuk/Ki Dong-ju (South Korea) three games 21-10, 14-21, and 21-19 on Thursday, January 8, 2026.
"Alhamdulillah, we were able to win, smoothly. It's not an easy match, they did a lot of psywar," said Sabar after the 68-minute match.
The more difficult test will be faced by Sabar/Reza in the quarterfinal tomorrow, January 9, 2026. The 2025 SEA Games gold medal winner will meet the second-seeded host, Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik.
Aaron/Soh themselves kept the hope at home by defeating the Chinese pair, Chen Xu Jun/Liu Yang, in a three-game match that ended with a score of 21-14, 14-21, and 21-14.
"Tomorrow we meet Aaron/Soh (Malaysia), prepare it with the conditions as well. It won't be easy because they also play in their country. So, yes, we focus tomorrow and we want to give the best result," said Reza.
On paper, Sabar/Reza has a good record against the host representative. In the previous five competitive clashes, they managed to win four times. Most recently, they won the 2025 SEA Games individual final which took place in Thailand.
Before Sabar/Reza, Indonesia's quarterfinal tickets had already been secured by Jonatan Christie, Putri Kusuma Wardani, Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, and Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/Meilysa Trias Puspitasari.
The quarterfinal match will take place at 09.00 local time or 08.00 WIB. Indonesian representatives are also guaranteed to meet all the favorites.
Jonatan will meet eighth seed Kodai Naraoka (Japan), Putri meets second seed Wang Zhiyi (China), Fajar/Fikri face third seed Chirag Shetty/Satwiksairaj Rankireddy (India), and Febriana/Meilysa against sixth seed Baek Ha-na/Lee So-he (South Korea).
The English, Chinese, Japanese, Arabic, and French versions are automatically generated by the AI. So there may still be inaccuracies in translating, please always see Indonesian as our main language. (system supported by DigitalSiber.id)
