A big surprise happened in the round of 16 Indonesia Open 2021. Men’s singles top seed Kento Momota from Japan was defeated by Singapore’s Loh Kean Yew 7-21, 21-17, 19-21. For Loh Kean Yew, this victory is revenge for his loss against Momota at the Vietnam International Challenge 2018.
Momota failed to repeat his success at the Indonesia Masters 2021 last week. Two top seeds below Momota, Viktor Axelsen and Anders Antonsen, are still in the game. Both of them defeated their opponents in the round of 16.
However, the quarterfinal might not be so easy for Antonsen as he will meet Indonesia’s top seed Jonatan Christie, also known as Jojo. Just last month, at the semifinal round of Thomas Cup 2020 that was held in Denmark, Antonsen was defeated by Jojo in a rubber game 23-25, 21-15, 16-21. It was in that match when Antonsen leaned on the net in an attempt to return Jojo’s shuttlecock. Today, Antonsen has the chance to turn things around with Jojo.
Antonsen, the 3rd seed, defeated Chinese Taipei’s Wang Tzu-Wei in a rubber game 18-21, 21-13, 21-14 while Jojo defeated his compatriot Chico Wardowo in a straight game 21-11, 21-12. Looking at the previous tournament, Antonsen has a better chance. He made it to the final round of the Indonesia Masters 2021 even though he lost against Momota in a straight game 17-21, 11-21. On the other hand, Jojo only made it to the round of 16 where he was defeated by Kidambi Srikanth from India 21-13, 18-21, 15-21.
Meanwhile, in the women’s singles, top seed Akane Yamaguchi from Japan also made it to the quarterfinal after winning a tough rubber set against Singapore’s Yeo Jia Min 21-15, 19-21, 21-14. In the quarterfinal, Yamaguchi will go against Pornpawee Chochuwong from Thailand who previously had defeated Gregoria Mariska Tunjung from Indonesia 11-21, 21-9, 22-20. The last time Yamaguchi and Chochuwong met was at the quarterfinal of the Indonesia Masters 2021 where Akane won and lead their meeting records 5-3.
