Indonesia suffered upsets in men’s singles with two of their best players crashing out in the second round of the BWF World Junior Championships 2022.
Second seed Farhan Alwi and Muhammad Reza Al Fajri, who had featured in Indonesia’s Mixed Team campaign last week, were both unlucky to face difficult opponents so early in the draw. Farhan took on Thailand Thomas Cupper Panitchaphon Teeraratsakul and couldn’t make much headway as he fell 21-17 21-16.
Al Fajri ran up against an opponent who refused to relent when the chips were down. In the match of the event so far, playing Canada’s Josh Nguyen, the Indonesian led 18-15 in the third and had match point at 20-19, which he blew with an open court in front. The Canadian made his luck with some fearless play, daring to go for the lines, and the risk paid off as he saved one match point and converted his own second chance, to win 21-15 19-21 24-22.
Josh Nguyen
“I’m so happy, I didn’t expect to make it past this round,” said the left-hander. “I actually planned on booking a flight tonight because I thought I would lose and leave early. But now I’m so excited to be able to beat someone from such a strong country. I can’t describe how I’m feeling right now.”
The Canadian, winner of the Pan Am Junior Championships in July, showed great composure at the death despite the momentum slipping away.
“It was pretty tight all the way. I was telling myself that right now would be a good time not to be nervous. It’s such a close game, and I’m not expected to win. It would be nice to just relieve the pressure for myself and just play my best game. I was going for my shots.”
Highlights
♦ Men’s singles top seed Alex Lanier eased into the third round beating Bharat Raghav of India in straight games.
♦ Korea’s twin sisters Kim Min Ji and Kim Min Seon both progressed into the third round of women’s singles with straight game wins.
♦ Mixed doubles top seeds Jarne Schlevoight/Julia Meyer (Germany) were knocked out by Japan’s Daigo Tanioka/Maya Taguchi, 21-16 21-16.
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