Malaysia Open 2024: Fajar/Rian Waswas Di Babak Kedua

Men's doubles pair Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto when they appeared in the first round of the Malaysia Open 2024 (doc. PBSI).

JAKARTA - The men's doubles pair Fajar Alfian Muhammad Rian Ardianto was very worried about meeting the representative of China Taipei, Fang-Chih Lee/Fang-Jen Lee, on the last 16 of the Malaysia Open 2024.

Fajar/Rian qualified for the second half after almost without any problems defeating Canadian representatives, Dong Adam/Nyl Yakura, two straight games at the Axiata Arena, Tuesday, January 9, 2024.

The victory led them to meet Fang-Chih Lee/Fang-Jen Lee. The problem in the previous two clashes was that Fajar/Rian was recorded as always losing.

"In the round of 16, meeting the Chinese Taipei (Lee Fang-Chih/Lee Fang-Jen) pair, it was not easy because we missed the 0-2 meeting record," said Fajar.

Fajar/Rian, who are the fifth seed in the Super 1000 level competition, previously lost twice to the pair at the Hong Kong Open and Madrid Spain Masters last year.

"They have a very good game and good patience too. However, we want to prepare a strategy to deal with it," said Fajar.

At this year's Malaysia Open, Fajar/Rian came as the defending champion. This is one of the two competitions they managed to win last year with All England.

Fajar said that they were not under any pressure even though they came with the status of defending champions.

"There is no pressure as the defending champion. The title was last year, but now it's from zero again and it motivates us to restore confidence," he said.

From the men's doubles, Fajar/Rian attended the 2024 Malaysia Open with Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan, Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin, and Bagas Maulana/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri.