Fajar/Rian Determined To Win Group At The 2024 Olympics

Men's doubles pair Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto qualified for the quarter-finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics (doc. PBSI/Badmintonphoto/Yohan Nonotte).

JAKARTA - The men's doubles pair Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto have the determination to qualify for the quarter-finals of the 2024 Paris Olympics by bearing the status of group winners.

Currently Fajar/Rian are in the top position of Group C after winning two straight games 21-13 and 21-10 over the host's representative, Ronan Labar/Lucas Corvee, at Adidas Arena, Monday, July 29, 2024, afternoon WIB.

Fajar/Rian have one more match against the Indian pair, Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty on Tuesday, July 30, 2024. To win the group, they must win the duel.

"Alhamdulillah, I am quite happy to get to the quarter-finals but we are not satisfied. Now we want to aim for the group title position first," Fajar said after the match as accepted in the PBSI statement.

Actually, the victory over the French representatives was Fajar/Rian's second victory in the group stage. One previous victory was won against the German pair, Mark Lamsfuss/Marvin Seidel.

However, the win was no longer counted as the German representative decided to step down following the injury suffered by Lamsfuss.

"With the German pair's resignation, our points are zero again. However, we are trying to take the positive side. They did not withdraw from the start, so we had the opportunity to try the field first," said Fajar.

Fajar further said that their performance in the second match of the group was the best so far.

"It controls the arena more even though the opponent is the host with supporters who are typical football supporters. However, we are more initiative to attack and be more confident," he said.

Fajar/Rian are the first representatives of Indonesia to reach the knockout stages of the remaining five badminton players at the 2024 Olympics.

Indonesia can still add tickets through the men's singles Jonatan Christie and Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and the women's singles Gregoria Mariska Tunjung.

The two Indonesian representatives who have been confirmed to be eliminated are mixed doubles Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari and women's doubles Apriyani Rahayu/Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti.