PETALING JAYA: Indonesia, led by the in-form Jonatan Christie (pic) in the men’s singles, are set to pose a huge threat once again in the Thomas Cup Finals from April 27-May 5 in Chengdu.
After a disappointing start to the year, Jonatan has sensationally turned around his form by capturing the All-England in March and the Asian Championships gold on Sunday.
Prior to his victories, the world No. 3 had suffered early round exits in all his other tournaments since January.
Jonatan’s great form bodes well for Indonesia’s Thomas Cup campaign, especially with fellow singles player Anthony Ginting and doubles pair Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto also catching fire after unremarkable results at the start of the year.
World No. 7 Fajar-Rian also captured the All-England crown while Anthony finished runners-up to Christie in the tournament.
The four will be ably supported by world No. 29 Chico Aura, world junior champion Alwi Farhan (singles), world No. 9 Shohibul Fikri-Bagas Maulana and world No. 13 Leo Rolly-Daniel Marthin (doubles).
Indonesia are the most successful team in the tournament, having won the title a whopping 14 times.
The team last emerged champions in the 2020 edition in Aarhus, Denmark, after an impressive 3-0 win over 10-time winners China in the final.
In the last edition in 2022, Indonesia were forced to settle for silver after surprisingly going down by the same score to India in Bangkok.
The Indonesians have an opportunity to exact revenge over the Indians early in the tournament this time when the two teams clash in a mouth-watering tie in Group C.
In what looks like the toughest group on paper, Jonatan and his teammates will also face Thailand and England.
Only the top two in the group will make it to the last eight.
