Men's Singles Wait At All England Ended Ginting After 22 Years

Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (Doc. PBSI)

JAKARTA The wait for the Indonesian men's singles to reach the All England final round has finally materialized after 22 years thanks to Anthony Sinisuka Ginting's victory over Christo Popov.

Ginting reached his first final in the world's oldest event after eliminating Popov in three games 19-21, 21-5, and 21-11, Saturday, March 16, 2024 evening WIB.

This is Ginting's first final at All England as well as the first for Indonesian men's singles after Budi Santoso reached the top party in 2002.

"Thankful and happy today, not only because of the win but can manage everything well on the field," Ginting said after the match.

"You can maintain your focus well from the start of the match until it's finished, that's important too. Because if you can play well and can solve all problems, you may succeed more," he added.

Ginting's journey to reach the final match was not easy. He was made helpless by Popov in the first game before rising with a landslide victory in the next two games.

"It's quite unfortunate that in the first game it was 2-3 points ahead but Christo managed to catch up. In the second game I tried not to think about what happened in the first game, to stay focused on strategy, to stay focused on how to play, how to get point by point," said the athlete from West Java.

If Ginting can win in the final tomorrow, he will make another historic note. The reason is, the last men's singles came out as champions was Hariyanto Arbi in 1994.

"In the final, whoever the opponent is, I am ready. Hopefully he can play well, just like the previous performances," hoped the owner of the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.