JAKARTA - Men's singles badminton player, Jonatan Christie, managed to stop the journey of Loh Kean Yew from Singapore in a fierce three-game match to reach the quarterfinals of the 2026 China Open.
Jonatan, who is the fourth seed in this BWF Super 1000 event, lost the first game and managed to bounce back in the next two games to lock in the victory with a score of 12-21, 21-6, and 21-13 on Thursday, July 23, 2026.
"Like yesterday, it was a bit difficult on the field. Both me and my opponent felt it so I had to have the right strategy and dare to use it," said Jonatan in an official statement received.
Jonatan actually could give a fierce resistance at the beginning of the first game. The 20218 Asian Games gold medal winner was leading 6-5, but nine consecutive points from the opponent after that made him unable to move again.
The 28-year-old badminton player then managed to dominate the second and third games. He lost the first point in the second game, but immediately took the lead and could not be caught up.
In the deciding game, Jonatan immediately took the lead from the start and was able to hold it until the end.
"In the first game, I tried several times to see the conditions and tested several times, it turned out that many of them were out of the ball. So, I immediately decided that until the third game I had to be more aggressive at the beginning," said Jonatan.
Jonatan will face a bigger challenge in the quarter-finals. This is because he will face Victor Lai, a badminton player from Canada who managed to defeat him in the final of the 2026 Indonesia Open last month.
Indonesia has a total of four representatives in the 2026 China Open quarter finals. Jonatan qualified with Putri Kusuma Wardani, Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, and Rachel Allessya Rose/Febi Setianingrum.
Meanwhile, the Indonesian representatives who crashed in the second round were the men's doubles Raymond Indra/Nikolaus Joaquin and Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Mohammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani and the mixed doubles Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja.
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