ALOR SETAR, Feb 12 ― Indonesia emerged champions of the 2018 Badminton Asia Team Championship (BATC) after shocking China 3-1 in the final at the Sultan Abdul Halim Suka Menanti Stadium here yesterday.

This is the second time Indonesia emerged as BATC champion after its first win in the first edition of the championship in Hyderabad, India, in 2016.

Indonesian first singles, Jonatan Christie, took more than an hour before confirming the first point for the Indonesian team by defeating world’s seventh ranked players Shi Yuqi 16-21, 21-17, 21-18.

"The first set was tougher than what I expected because the play pattern was quite challenging. In the second set, I began to think that we were both young players and we were, like, fighting physically and mentally.

"The only way is to be smarter because he was stronger physically. I am happy up to this point, I managed to carry out my job as the first person to deliver a point,” he said.

The Mohammad Ahsan-Angga Pratama pair contributed the second point to the 2016 Thomas Cup runner-up after defeating He Jiting-Tan Qiang in straight sets 21-19, 21-18.

China closed the gap through Qiao Bin who beat Anthony Ginting 21-12, 11-21, 21-14.

Indonesia's second doubles pair, Rian Agung Saputro-Hendra Setiawan became the hero of the team after collecting the winning point over Han Chengkai-Zhou Haodong 21-14, 21-19.

Meanwhile, Indonesian doubles coach Herry Iman Pierngadi said he opted for more experienced players to face critical moments despite Rian-Hendra's side losing against South Korea in yesterday’s semi-final action.

He said that from yesterday's mistake, several things had been identified and successfully translated by the Rian-Hendra that contributed to the Indonesia’s win.

However, Herry hoped the players would not be complacent with the preparation to face the real competition at the Thomas Cup, in Bangkok, Thailand on May 20 to 27.

"There are still three months left, we must make better preparation because the challenges in Bangkok will be much tougher as there will be Denmark, England and China who will send their full team,” he added. ― Bernama