Primadona Indonesia Masters 2024: Pitchamon Opatniputh Becomes A Spotlight On Istora, Eliminated Due To Injury

Thai women's singles badminton player Pitchamon Opatniputh (Instagram/@pinkk_opat).

JAKARTA Indonesia Masters 2024 has been completed on January 28, 2024 at Istora Gelora Bung Karno, Senayan, Jakarta. A number of actions have amazed badminton players in the spotlight.

Apparently, it's not just a badminton battle that has attracted attention. Indonesian badminton lovers are also focused on the beautiful face of several participants competing in Istora.

One of them is a badminton player from Thailand, Pitchamon Opatniputh. He joined the 2024 Indonesia Masters from the qualifying round.

He met Indonesia's representative, Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo. Interestingly, this is Pitchamon's debut at the Indonesia Masters.

The 17-year-old badminton player was surprised to see the excitement at Istora Senayan. In fact, he did not think he already had fans in Indonesia.

"I feel very excited to appear at the Indonesia Masters 2024. I am committed to giving my best."

"Atmosphere is very crowded. I have a lot of fans in Indonesia. Thank you all fans in Indonesia," said Pitchamon on his personal Instagram.

Unfortunately, Pitchamon's journey at the Indonesia Masters 2024 was immediately stopped in his first match. He had to withdraw at the start of the second set due to injury.

"I wanted to do my best, but my injury relapsed and it really hurt. In fact, I was very excited."

"He (Ester) played very well, but I had to step down. It hurts a lot. I've been injured before. Apparently, I was only able to play in set one, then in the second set it wasn't long."

"First, I was initially able to play. However, when I played harder and intense, it (injured) hurt again," said Pitchamon.

As is known, Pitchamon was able to get past the first set against Ester despite losing 12-21. In the second set, he was unable to withstand the pain due to his injury when he was 1-3 behind.

Interestingly, the meeting between Pitchamon and Ester at the Indonesia Masters 2024 was not the first. They are recorded to have met three times before in a competitive event.

Pitchamon always came out as the winner at three meetings before the 2024 Indonesia Masters against Ester.

His first win over Ester took place at the 2018 Jakarta Open Junior International Championships. Then, he won again at the Korea Junior Open International Challenge in the same year.

Pitchamon's third victory over Ester occurred in 2022. He defeated Ester in two straight games in the Bahrain International Challenge final at The Bahrain Kerleeya Samajam.

Meanwhile, Pitchamon immediately left for Thailand after withdrawing against Ester at the Indonesia Masters 2024 to undergo recovery.

Although he only briefly appeared at Istora, Pitchamon gave its own color for the Indonesia Masters 2024.

Apart from that, Pitchamon's talent will still develop considering his very young age. However, he has been looked at as Thailand's mainstay.

He was born in Tokyo Mai, Thailand, on January 4, 2007. Pitchamon started his badminton career since he was five years old.

At the beginning of his journey, he was coached directly by his father at the Thai Smile Badminton Club. He later became the youngest badminton player to be called into the Thai team when he was 13 years old.

Then at the age of 15, Pitchamon participated in defending Thailand at the 2022 SEA Games. His name was included in the list against Indonesia in the women's team category.

At that time, Pitchamon was arranged to fight Saifi Rizka Nurhidayah in the last match. However, he then did not play after Thailand beat Indonesia with a landslide score of 3-0.