Fajar/Rian Immediately Set Two Targets after Malaysia Masters 2022

Ganda putra Indonesia juara Turnamen Malaysia Masters 2022, Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto. (PBSI)

JAKARTA - The men's doubles pair Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto immediately set short and long-term targets after winning the 2022 Malaysia Masters.

The fifth-ranked pair in the world emerged as champions in the Super 500 tournament after defeating their seniors Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan at the Axiata Arena, Sunday, July 10.

According to the champions, Fajar/Rian also want to appear more consistent and be able to maintain their performance. Moreover, they will be playing at the Singapore Open 2022 next week.

"In the short term we will go to the Singapore Open, hopefully, we can maintain consistency and game performance. If we can, get a title too. We need points going forward. We want to unfreeze the ranking later for a definite upgrade," Fajar said after the match.

The Malaysia Masters 2022 title is their third title this year. Previously, Fajar/Rian had won titles at the Swiss Open and Indonesia Masters last month.

In addition, this title is also the fourth Super 500 title in their career. Two of them were won at the Malaysia Masters, which they previously won in 2018.

Rian said that he was happy and proud of the title they had just brought home. This title became even more special because they were obtained after overthrowing their senior who was rich in experience.

However, he did not want to be satisfied with the result because there are still many tournaments that they will face. Apart from the Singapore Open 2022, their long-term target is the world championship in August.

"There are still many evaluations even though we have won three titles and three runners-up. We still don't want to be easily satisfied because there are still many tournaments ahead that we want to achieve. One of them is the World Championship," said Rian.

Indonesia brought home two titles from the Malaysia Masters this year. Apart from Fajar/Rian, the title was also brought home by the men's singles, Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo, who successfully ended Indonesia's title drought in the tournament since Simon Santoso won 2014.