Malaysia Open 2023: Fajar/Rian Closes the Struggle of Indonesian Athletes on the First Day, a Total of 9 Representatives Advance to the Second Round

Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto stepped into the second round of the Malaysia Open 2023. (Photo: Twitter/@INABadminton)

JAKARTA - The men's doubles Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto concluded the struggles of the Indonesian representatives in the first round of the 2023 Malaysia Open. The third-placed doubles won over the French representatives, Christi Popov/Toma Junior Popov.

In the meeting at the Axiata Arena on Tuesday, January 10, the afternoon of WIB, Fajar/Rian defeated the Popov brothers in a long struggle of three games. Fajar/Rian spent 57 exciting minutes winning with a score of 19-21, 21-16, and 21-15.

The victory over the Popov brothers made Fajar/Rian able to secure tickets to the second round. In the continued struggle they will face German representatives, Mark Lamsfuss/Marvin Seidl who won over Dutch representatives, Ruben Jille/Ties Van der Lecq.

Closing with Fajar/Rian's victory in the first round, the Indonesian squad sent a total of nine representatives in the second round. From today's match, only Rinov/Pitha failed to secure a ticket.

With nine representatives in the advanced round, civil war will also be presented in the men's doubles. The reason is that there are senior doubles, Mohammad Ahsan / Hendra Setiawan, who will challenge their juniors, Pramudya Kusumawardana / Yeremia Erich Yoche Rambitan.

Apart from the three names that passed from the men's doubles number, other Indonesian representatives who advanced to the second round were women's doubles Apriyani Rahayu/Siti Fadia and Ana/Tiwi.

Meanwhile, in the men's singles, there are Anthony Ginting and Jonathan Christie. There is also Gregoria Mariska Tunjung in women's singles and Dejan Ferdinansyah/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja in mixed doubles.