JABAR EKSPRES – Indonesian men’s doubles pair Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto hope to perform more consistently in the next important tournaments after failing to advance to the Indonesia Open 2023 semifinals on Friday.
“We realize the game is far from what we expected, and we will introspect ourselves that in the future we have to improve,” Fajar said in a press conference at Istora Senayan Jakarta.
“The important thing now is how we can be more consistent (after Indonesia Open 2023) in the sense of achieving the best results again like last year,” he added.
Fajar/Rian had to end their journey in the BWF Super 1000 tournament after losing to Indian representatives Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty with a score of 13-21, 13-21 in 41 minutes.
In this match, the Fajri pair admitted that they were unable to bring out their best game. The 2018 Asian Games silver medalist looked overwhelmed by the Indian representative’s game.
“It’s sad because the results are not in line with what we want. In this match I have shown my best game and have tried all the game patterns. We admit that the opponent is superior in this match,” Fajar said.
“In this match we were not nervous in playing and indeed did not come out our best game in this match,” he added.
This defeat made the 2023 All England champions surrender again when they met the world number six pair. Recorded at the last meeting at the 2019 Thailand Open, Fajar/Rian also surrendered with a score of 17-21, 19-21.
With this result, Fajar/Rian failed to continue the positive trend while appearing in the BWF Super 1000 tournament. Previously, the world number one men’s doubles were able to become champions when competing in the Malaysia Open and All England 2023 tournaments.
“Our performance in the last few tournaments has indeed decreased. We didn’t think we could win after the All England, and Malaysia Open 2023. Now we want to prepare ourselves again to be able to improve our abilities,” Fajar said.
