Indonesian men’s SINGLES Jonatan Christie emerged as champion of the 2024 Badminton Asia Championship (BAC) following defeating host representative Li Shi Feng in straight games, 21-15, 21-16, in the final round in Ningbo, China, Sunday.
The first game was quite tough, with both players giving each other surprising variations of attacks in order to gain points. The numerical margin between the two is not that far apart, especially at the start of the first game.
Jonathan’s effective attack then put him ahead temporarily 15-10, but Li was able to catch up quickly and get four points in a row until he almost caught up 15-14.
The 2024 All England Open champion does not fall under pressure and continues to build his confidence on the court. This can be seen from Jonathan, who is increasingly taking solid control of the game, and not letting Li catch up from the score of 14.
The third seed also looked confident when he challenged twice, when the linesman declared the ball out. However, the two challenges turned out to be successful in producing points for Jonathan.
Jonathan achieved his first matchpoint with a score of 20-14, and he closed the first game with a score of 21-15.
Also read: Jonathan Christie is the only hope at the Asian Badminton Championships
The second game started with a long rally which was finally won by the Indonesian representative. However, the host representative, the fifth seed, started to catch up and the score was once more tight between the two players.
In the midst of this competition, Li seemed to be starting to play less patiently and made several mistakes of his own which were profitable for Jonathan. Jonathan won the second game interval 11-5.
Jonathan returned to playing tactically but also calmly. Speed and varied hard shots have also proven to be the world number five’s mainstay weapons in men’s singles, making it difficult for Li to develop his game.
Also read: Beating Malaysia, Jojo advances to the semi-finals of Badminton Asia 2024
Leading 14-7, the 2023 French Open champion still maintains his playing pattern. Even though Li started to add two points in a row, the calm made Jonathan remain confident. Opponents are also starting to look impatient to collect points at this crucial moment.
Li started to slowly catch up and got four points in a row, putting pressure on Jonathan, who at that time was leading 18-15.
Jonathan achieved the matchpoint in the second game with a score of 20-16 through defense and ball returns which made things difficult for Li. Jojo finally won the second game following the opponent’s ball was declared out of line with a score of 21-16.
With Jonathan’s victory today, Indonesia’s men’s singles emerged as defending champion at the Asian Championships, following in last year’s edition, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting won the title. (Ant/Z-7)
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