Coach Prepares Fajar/Fikri Pair For 2028 Los Angeles Olympics

Fajar Alfian dan Muhammad Shohibul Fikri dalam pertandingan di Australia Open 2025. (Dok/PBSI)

JAKARTA Men's doubles coach Antonius Budi Ariantho wants to prepare the pair Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri until the 2028 Olympics which will take place in Los Angeles, United States.

Fajar/Fikri are the new pair from the dismantling-pair carried out by PBSI to find the best composition that can compete at the elite level. So far they have only played eight tournaments in the BWF World Tour.

Anton said that as Fajar/Fikri's new partner, progress has been extraordinary so far so their composition should be maintained.

"With the results that have been obtained throughout 2025, it is clear. It remains only for me as a coach, I will definitely continue until the Olympics [2028 Los Angeles]," said Anton at the PBSI Cipayung National Training Center.

Of the eight tournaments that have been undertaken so far, Fajar/Fikri managed to reach five finals, two quarter-finals, and one semifinal. Of the five finals, only one of them produced the title, namely at the China Open.

They even reached three consecutive finals at the Korea Open, Denmark Open, and French Open, then returned to the same stage at the Australian Open last week and lost against their junior Raymond Indra/Nikolaus Joaquin.

Anton said that as a coach he was tasked with keeping this couple consistent in maintaining their performance so that later at the Olympics they could give hope.

"Yes, indeed we need to maintain stamina, especially Fajar. He must maintain his strength, strength, resilience, that must be added again," he said.

A very consistent performance made Fajar/Fikri immediately get a ticket to appear in the 2025 BWF World Tour Finals which will take place on December 17-21 in Hangzhou, China.

They qualified there along with four other Indonesian representatives, namely Jonatan Christie, Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani, and Jafar Hidayatullah/Felisha Alberta Nathaniel Pasaribu.