Anthony Ginting knocked out of Indonesia Masters as Jonatan Christie stretched hard to reach second round
The Tokyo 2020 bronze medallist Ginting suffers an unexpected exit after an opening round loss to Kunlavut Vitidsarn
Badminton
It was not the home coming that Anthony Sinisuka Ginting was hoping for. The Tokyo 2020 badminton bronze medallist suffered a first round defeat at the Indonesian Masters 2021 in Bali on Wednesday (17 Nov).
It's the first time Ginting has played on home soil since the global Covid pandemic, his Olympic success, and clinching the Thomas Cup for Indonesia, but the tournament fifth seed was unable to find a way past Thailand's unseeded Kunlavut Vitidsarn.
The match got off to a positive start for the home favourite who jumped into a healthy 11-4 lead at the halfway mark of the opening game. However the 20-year-old Thai clawed his way back into the game and took the lead, 15-14, before Ginting was able to reclaim the advantage and inched ahead to win the opening game.
Vitidsarn turned the tables on Ginting in the second game, leading from start to finish to force a decider. It was an impressive feat that the world number 23 managed to repeat in the third game as he pulled off his first career win over Ginting, clinching victory 19-21, 21-14, 21-13.
"I'm really happy today because I played against a higher ranked player who is top in the world, and I played really good today. But I have to take things step-by-step and I want to learn about playing in big tournaments." - Kunlavut Vitidsarn
At Ginting's last tournament prior to this, he retired from the Denmark Open with a back injury and flew home to rest and recover.
Today, the Indonesian admitted defeat to the better player on court.
"The shuttle is very slow, his defensive skills are strong. Kunlavut was the better player today," before adding:
"If I could go back and redo the match, I’d try to play more patiently. It’s not easy to score points here. Kunlavut gained points from my mistakes." - Anthony Sinisuka Ginting
Ginting's compatriot, Jonatan Christie was also pushed to three games by a Thai player in his opening match, but the tournament sixth seed from Indonesia managed to edge out Sitthikom Thammasin to advance to the second round.
Christie too won the opening game, but the world number 29 kept much closer in the second game. Tammasin saved a match point and then edged out in front to force a decider.
It was another close game but towards the end the Indonesian was able to outplay his opponent and went to clinch victory 21-18, 20-22, 21-17.
Christie will next play India's Kidambi Srikanth, who defeated France's Christo Popov earlier, for a spot in the quarter-finals.
Olympic champion Victor Axelsen also advanced to the second round after comfortably winning his opening match, defeating Hong Kong's Lee Cheuk Yiu in straight games, 21-10, 21-14.
Where to watch the Indonesia Masters 2021 live
The Indonesia Masters 2021 is being broadcast in territories around the world, with further information on the BWF website.
In Indonesia it's free to air on MNCTV & iNews. It is also available on MNC Vision, K-Vision, and MNC Play. All broadcast at MNC sport 2 and MNC Sport 3 channel as well as being streamed on RCTI+ and Vision+
In Malaysia the action is live on RTM's free to air channels TV OKEY and Sukan RTM. You can also follow the action on Astro Super Sport 4 and Astro Super Sport 4 HD.