2 Fajar/Rian Tournaments Before The 2024 Paris Olympics

Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto when appearing in the 2024 Thomas Cup. (DOK. PBSI)

JAKARTA - Indonesian men's doubles pair Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto will appear at the Singapore Open and Indonesia Open 2024 in preparation for the Paris Olympics in the middle of this year.

The two tournaments were at the Super 750 BWF and Super 1000 BWF levels in a row. The first tournament will take place from May 28 to June 2, while the other will be held from June 4 to 9.

Head of Men's Doubles Coach Aryono Miranat confirmed that his team will miss several tournaments and only play in the two major events before going to Paris to take part in the top four most grand quadrennial event.

"Only two. Singapore Open and Indonesia Open," answered Aryono when asked about the maja tournament which Fajar/Rian will participate in before flying to France in July when met at the National Training Center, Wednesday, May 8.

In the BWF Tour 2024 calendar, there are at least six tournaments that can actually be followed by athletes who have qualified for France. In addition to the two above, four other tournaments are on the BWF Super 500 level joint list.

One of the tournaments at that level is the Thailand Open which will be held next week from May 14 to 19. The other three are the Malaysia Masters (May 21-26), the Australian Open (June 11-16), and the Canada Open (2-7) July.

Aryono explained that Fajar/Rian only focused on the two major tournaments because it was impossible to catch points and rise to fourth place in order to become superior in Paris.

"Unless they can go to [ranking) 4. If 4, it's ranked 1-4, it's occupied. They are from [ranking] 7 very far to pursue. So, it's better to prepare in Singapore and Indonesia," he said.

Fajar/Rian are the only men's doubles to qualify for Paris later. They got tickets there with Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, Jonatan Christie, Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, Apriyani Rahayu/Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti, and Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari.

The Paris Olympics will take place from July 26 to August 11. Badminton will be relied on again to bring home the gold medal from this four-year event.