JAKARTA – Indonesia’s Asian Games badminton champion Jonatan Christie finally lifted another trophy in front of his home fans by winning the Indonesia Masters on Sunday.
South Korea’s An Se-young made it two victories in three women’s singles finals.
Christie defeated his unseeded compatriot Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo 21-15, 21-13 to clinch his first Indonesia Masters title at the Istora Gelora Bung Karno arena, since claiming the Asian crown at the same venue in 2018.
The world No. 3 thanked his coach Irwansyah and fans after the match, saying: “This is very special for me, finally I got this after I won the Asian Games in 2018.”
The 25-year-old had raised expectations after winning the Asiad five years ago, but failed to reach another home final on the Badminton World Federation World Tour although he won three titles from 2019 to 2022.
With world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen withdrawing from this tournament due to fatigue, Christie was not about to let another chance go by, after defeating India’s Lakshya Sen and China’s Shi Yuqi last week.
World No. 23 Dwi Wardoyo, who had defeated the likes of Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew and Hong Kong’s Angus Ng en route to the final, led only in brief moments during the 44-minute encounter, as Christie tightened his grip on proceedings to bag the title and US$31,500 (S$41,300) cheque.
More joy followed for the home fans as Indonesia’s 17th-ranked pair of Leo Rolly Carnando and Daniel Marthin defeated China’s world No. 21 duo He Jiting and Zhou Haodong 21-17, 21-16 to clinch the men’s doubles title.
But China prevailed in the other two doubles categories, with Liu Shengshu and Zhang Shuxian edging out Japan’s Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota 22-20, 21-19 in the women’s doubles, and Feng Yanzhe and Huang Dongping defeating compatriots Jiang Zhenbang and Wei Yaxin 21-15, 16-21, 21-19 in the mixed doubles.
In the women’s singles final, An continued her bright start to 2023 by clinching her second title in three finals in January.
An, who turns 21 on Sunday, defeated former world No. 1 Carolina Marin 18-21, 21-18, 21-13 to add to her India Open crown which she won a week ago. She had also reached the Malaysia Open final where she lost to world No. 1 Akane Yamaguchi on Jan 15.
Marin had won the first game and led 4-0 in the second, but the ninth-ranked Spaniard had no answer as An forced a rubber game and won it to complete her comeback.
“In the third game, I felt that I still had some energy. So I tried as best as I could for the remaining time,” said the world No. 2.
