KUALA LUMPUR, April 4 — Indonesia’s Jonatan Cristie, the 2018 Asian Games gold medallist, produced the biggest upset of the day when he downed world No. 1 Kento Momota of Japan 22-20, 21-16 in the second round of the 2019 Malaysian Open Badminton Championships at the Axiata Arena in Bukit Jalil today.
The 21-year-old Jonatan, who toiled for 46 minutes to achieve the feat, will now meet former world No. 1 Viktor Axelsen of Denmark in the quarter-finals. The Dane checked into the last eight after a hard-fought 21-11, 16-21, 21-17 second-round win over China’s Lu Guangzu.
The Indonesian admitted that it wasn’t easy beating Momota and that he only won because the Japanese ace was off form.
“Momota is still the best player there is now. He is the world No. 1 and the world champion. I played better today because I had nothing to lose, while it was the opposite for Momota,” he said.
Meanwhile, Jonatan said he respected the view of badminton fans who described him as one of the players with the potential to become a great shuttler like Datuk Lee Chong Wei, China’s Lin Dan and Momota.
Yet, he does not want to think too far ahead as he knows that there’s still room for improvement ahead of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.
“I don’t think I’m a great player like them. That is the view of the fans. I only think of how to keep on improving with each match, nothing more,” said Jonathan, who doesn’t rate his chances of winning the Malaysian Open very highly due to the presence of shuttlers like China’s Chen Long and Axelsen.
The Indonesian is also confident that Chong Wei will be just as competitive when he returns to action, describing the Malaysian as a player of quality and a legend.
“Even now, I feel that I won the Asiad gold last year because Chong Wei and Lin Dan were not there. I have never played against Chong Wei,” he said. — Bernama
