Indonesian men’s singles, Jonatan Christie, immediately shifted his focus to the 2024 Thomas Cup after a golden week at the 2024 Asian Championship.
Jonatan Christie is not satisfied after winning consecutive titles in two major tournaments, namely the 2024 All England Open and the 2024 Asian Championship.
At the 2024 Asian Championship, Jonathan headed to the highest podium by defeating the winners of the BWF World Tour title, namely Lee Cheuk Yiu, Lee Zii Jia, Shi Yu Qi, and Li Shi Feng.
The last two names are China’s mainstay players as hosts. Shi Yu Qi even appeared as the first seed.
However, the two players who last year successfully created the Chinese derby in the final of the All England and Asian Games were unable to provide resistance once Jonathan was in the zone.
After stopping Shi Yu Qi’s tough resistance in the semifinals, Jonathan knocked out Li Shi Feng, the Asian Games champion, with a fairly convincing score of 21-15, 21-16.
Jonathan’s strong performance raised Indonesia’s hopes ahead of the next big celebration, namely the 2024 Thomas Cup, the World Cup of badminton.
Indonesia is on a difficult path after the decline in performance of the men’s players led to the elimination of Merah Putih from the top two positions in the seed list
Indonesia is in Group C with India, Thailand and England.
If they stumble and only become runner-up in the group, it is not impossible that Indonesia will face a tough match against China or Denmark from the last 8 round.
Talking about the chance to win is certainly too fast.
However, there is a commitment to provide the best. Jonathan also expressed his determination to carry this positive trend to the 2024 Thomas Cup.
“I performed well throughout this championship, and I hope I can continue this good performance into the Thomas Cup,” said Jonatan as quoted by BWFBadminton.com.
“For me, it was a very special experience to be able to beat Li Shi Feng and Shi Yu Qi on their home turf.”
“I hope to be able to maintain this good performance,” he said.
Referring to the world rankings for ranking players in each team in the 2024 Thomas Cup on April 9, Jonathan will be Indonesia’s second men’s singles player.
Other well-known men’s singles from other countries that Jojo could face are Lakshya Sen (India), Kenta Nishimoto (Japan), Anders Antonsen (Denmark), and Li Shi Feng (India).
All of the players above were defeated by Jonathan in the last meeting. Even so, the big burden as second men’s singles still has to be taken into account.
Jonathan has experienced two different worlds in his position.
Jojo became a hero in the 2020 Thomas Cup final and then the loser in the 2022 Thomas Cup final where he failed to save Indonesia from a 3-0 defeat.
If the best line-up is revealed, Indonesia will rely on Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the first singles match, Jonatan, then Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo for the third singles match.
Meanwhile, in men’s doubles, the order is Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto, Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Bagas Maulana, and Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin.
Of the three pairs, only two pairs compete and it is also possible to disassemble pairs.
In the midst of prolonged ups and downs in performance, expecting a strong performance from Jonathan alone is certainly not wise.
Indonesia needs the best action from the players representing Merah Putih at the world team championship if they want to win again for the 15th time.
Thomas and Uber Cup 2024 will be held on April 27 – May 5 2024 in Chengdu, China.