Indonesia Open 2026: Fajar/Fikri Silenced by Chinese Vice

The men's doubles Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri in the first round of the 2026 Indonesia Open (doc. PBSI).

JAKARTA - The men's doubles Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri had to meet an early disaster at the 2026 Indonesia Open. They suffered a defeat in the first round against the pair of Chen Bo Yang/Liu Yi.

The pair, who are seeded third, could not do much, admitting the Chinese pair's superiority in the two straight games 13-21 and 14-21 at Istora Senayan, Jakarta, on Wednesday, June 3, 2026.

"The opponent was very prepared and very good. They played defensively and counterattacked. They have a very tight defense," said Fajar after the match.

Fajar/Fikri were not in their best form in front of their own public. They made so many mistakes, often making wide returns, and returns were not perfect so that the ball stuck in the net.

Meanwhile, the opposing pair played very neatly and the defense was very solid. Various attack attempts with hard smes by Fajar/Fikri were successful in stopping them.

"We should not penetrate the opponent's defense with our attacks, we should be more patient, we should process it more, but we played in a hurry so there were many boomerangs," said Fajar.

This victory was Chen/Liu's revenge. Fajar/Fikri previously won their first competitive meeting in the Badminton Asia Championship (BAC) which took place in early April 2026 in Ningbo, China.

This is the earliest defeat that Fajar/Fikri have experienced from the five BWF World Tour tournaments they have participated in so far this year.

They were previously semi-finalists at the Malaysia Open and reached the quarterfinals at the Indonesia Masters in January, losing in the second round of the All England in March, and managed to become runners-up at the Singapore Open last week.

In a nearly simultaneous match, the young pair of Ali Faathir Rayhan/Devin Artha Wahyudi also suffered defeat. They were defeated by the pair of Zhi Wei He/Huang Jui Hsuan (China Taipei) in a three-game match 21-13, 17-21, and 11-21.

Previously, the men's doubles also lost Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin and the pair of Muhammad Rian Ardianto/Rahmat Hidayat.