PETALING JAYA: Indonesia suffered a blow after men’s singles shuttler Anthony Ginting (pic) withdrew from their home Masters in Jakarta.
Anthony has been struggling with form and fitness over the past year and also missed the Indian Open too.
The 28-year-old did not have a good start to the year when he suffered a second-round exit in the Malaysian Open after losing tamely to Thailand’s world champion Kunlavut Vitidsarn and dropped out of the world’s top 10 in the latest rankings.
Currently at No. 11, Anthony looks far from the player who captured bronze in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics and 2018 Asian Games in Jakarta.
The Indonesian was also crowned champion twice in the home Masters in the 2020 and 2018 editions.
In his absence, Indonesia’s best hope will be world No. 3 Jonatan Christie, who will be out to regain the title he won in 2023.
Jonatan suffered a shock defeat to Frenchman Toma Junior Popov in the first round of the Malaysian tourney but rebounded quickly to reach the Indian Open semi-finals.
The 27-year-old though has a tough task at home with the likes of China’s world No. 1 Shi Yuqi and Denmark’s defending champion and world No. 2 Anders Antonsen also in the fray.
Yuqi beat Antonsen to capture the Malaysian Open crown and both players will be fresh after skipping the Indian tourney.
Jonatan will open his campaign today against Taiwan’s Su Li-yang while Yuqi will play a qualifier.
Antonsen has a tricky opening round match against Hong Kong’s world No. 20 Angus Ng Ka Long.
Meanwhile, Leong Jun Hao, who moved up one rung to No. 27 in the latest rankings, will be Malaysia’s sole representative in the men’s singles as world No. 7 Lee Zii Jia is still recovering from an ankle ligament injury.
In the first round, Jun Hao has a difficult task against China’s Weng Hongyang, who will be in a confident mood after jumping five spots to No. 16 in the world.
Hongyang also defeated Jun Hao in the second round of the Indian Open and holds a 2-1 advantage over the latter in the head-to-head records.