Jonathan Christie To The 2023 Japan Open Final, This Is The Key

Indonesian men's singles, Jonatan Christie. (Photo: Twitter @INABadminton)

JAKARTA - Indonesian men's singles, Jonatan Christie, stepped into the final round of the Japan Open 2023. Jonatan won the ticket to the top match after defeating India's Lakhsya Sen.

The player who is familiarly called Jojo won the place in the final through a rubber game 21-15 victory, 13-21, 21-16 in Tokyo, Saturday, July 29.

The fifth seed in the tournament admitted to using a game approach that was more patient in dealing with attacks from Sen.

"Today I can play quite well. Sen is a tough player and not easily turned off, the defense is good, so the approach to the match was different from yesterday's matches," said Jonathan.

"Earlier I played more patiently, waiting for a new opportunity to attack. If I cross the attack too much, it would be even better for him," he added.

Furthermore, the men's singles ranked ninth in the world said he also tried to focus and calm the mind and not rush in winning points. This is because Sen is a tough player in giving attacks.

"In mind, I also continue to regulate my focus point by point. Especially when in the third game after the interval where he got one point, then I also got one point. As soon as he keeps taking turns, that momentum I keep so as not to turn around," said Jonathan, quoted from the official statement of PBSI via Antara.

This is Jonathan's second final at the Japan Open after 2019. He will face the winner of the match between Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) and Kodai Naraoka (Japan). Jonatan said he would focus on preparing himself better physically and mentally.

"I am happy to be (back in the Japan Open final). Especially because I can take more points here after several tournaments are not good enough. For the final, I haven't thought about it yet," he said.

Meanwhile, Jonathan became one of the three Indonesian representatives who successfully advanced to the semifinals of the tournament in the BWF Super 500 category. The other two Indonesian badminton players who played were the men's doubles Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto and the women's singles Gregoria Mariska Tunjung.

Fajar/Rian have fallen in the hands of Taiwanese representative Lee Yang/Wang Chi Lin in two straight games 19-21, 10-21. Meanwhile, Gregoria will face the Chinese women's singles He Bing Jiao.