Jakarta, CNN Indonesia —

Indonesian badminton's poor start to 2024 continues Open India. For the second time in a row, no Indonesian representative has managed to qualify for the semi-finals of a major tournament at the start of the year.

Nine Indonesian representatives all lost until the quarter-finals of the India Open 2024 held at the KD Jadhav Indoor Stadium in New Delhi.

In the quarter-finals on Friday (19/1), the two remaining Indonesian representatives: Anthony Ginting and Fajar Alfian/Muuhammad Rian Ardianto lost.

Ginting, who was seeded fourth at this year's India Open, was defeated by Lee Cheuk Yiu of Hong Kong. Ginting lost 17-21, 21-18, 13-21.

Meanwhile, Fajar/Rian was folded by Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae. Fajar/Rian lost in two straight games 14-21 and 18-21 to the South Korean men's doubles.

“We admit that the pairs in the top eight are currently improving their performances, while we are not yet back to peak performance, but we will continue to try. As long as we have the opportunity, we will try to give our best. We will never stop asking for prayers and support from all the fans and the entire Indonesian community,” Fajar said after his defeat.

The results of the 2024 India Open mean that Indonesia has failed to qualify for the second consecutive time this year to advance to the semi-finals. Previously, at the 2024 Malaysia Open, Indonesia was also unable to send representatives to the semi-finals.

This negative trend is quite worrying considering that Indonesian badminton is currently facing qualification for the 2024 Paris Olympics. Apart from that, the sports are once again tasked with winning gold medals.

Then, Indonesian representatives will participate in the Indonesia Masters 2024 which will be held at Istora Gelora Bung Karno, from January 23 to 28.

(har/har)