JAKARTA - The men's doubles Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri successfully stopped the journey of the British pair, Ben Lane/Sean Vendy, to reach the semifinals of the 2026 Japan Open.
Fajar/Fikri, who are seeded second, earned the second semifinal ticket for Indonesia after winning the two-game match 22-20 and 21-13 at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Friday, July 17, 2026, afternoon WIB.
"It was quite surprising that they were fast, yes, they played long. We made a mistake in using the strategy at the beginning of the first game," said Fajar in an official statement received after the match.
Fajar/Fikri is one of two Indonesian representatives who managed to advance to the last four. This pair followed in the footsteps of the women's singles Putri Kusuma Wardani who defeated Wang Zhi Yi from China.
A tough test awaits Fajar/Fikri in the semifinals. The reason is that they will face the host pair, Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi, who automatically get full support from the public themselves.
"They are a very good pair, it's not easy to fight against them, but we both have opportunities. The important thing is that we don't lose our enthusiasm and fighting spirit because they will definitely perform with full ambition because they will be able to get the support of the host public," said Fikri.
Takuro/Yugo, who are ranked eighth in this BWF Super 750 event, qualified for the last four after stopping the fourth-seeded Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chan from China.
On paper, they had a 1-0 win-loss advantage against Fajar/Fikri in the competitive arena. The only clash they managed to win was in the final of the Denmark Open in October last year.
Indonesia actually has four representatives fighting in the last eight. However, the journey of Alwi Farhan's men's singles and Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/Meilysa Trias Puspitasari's women's doubles was successfully blocked by the enemy.
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