It was a bright Day 2 for Indonesia at the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2023, with Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, Jonatan Christie and Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto outplaying formidable opponents.

The only reverse they suffered was in women’s doubles, with Apriyani Rahayu/Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti falling in straight games to top seeds Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan.

The record hasn’t been particularly impressive for Ginting against Shi Yu Qi. The Indonesian trailed the Chinese 1-8 in their career meetings, and with Shi having upstaged favourite Viktor Axelsen in their opening match yesterday, the odds were stacked against Ginting.

The world No.4, however, turned it around after losing the opening game, looking quick and sharp and capitalising on his openings to lead Group A with his second win in two matches, 11-21 21-7 21-17.

Ginting smiled when reminded of his record against Shi: “I know it’s not easy for me. Shi Yu Qi leads our head-to-head. Like I said yesterday, I didn’t want to think of win or losing, but wanted to focus on getting my performance back, and I thought this is my chance, so I tried to manage the pressure well.

“In the hall of course they were supporting Shi Yu Qi, but some of them still shouted my name, so that was a good experience for me.”

With two wins in two matches, Ginting said he was feeling good about himself.

“I think I’m where I want to be. I still need to improve a bit on some things.”

In Group B, Jonatan Christie’s form continued to hold, as he led Anders Antonsen by a wide margin. Although his grip did loosen and Antonsen was a couple of points away from forcing the decider, Christie closed it out in straight games, 21-16 21-16 to lead the group with two wins.

Indonesia also had a win in men’s doubles with Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto, carrying a 1-4 record against in-form pair Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen, producing a typically crafty display to thwart the Danes, 21-12 21-18.

Astrup/Rasmussen had started strongly yesterday, beating world champions Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae in a high-intensity match, but today the Indonesians were all over them.

Rasmussen offered no excuses, only stating that they hadn’t quite managed the same level as in their opening match:

“We didn’t play as well today, so I wouldn’t say it was due to the match yesterday, but something happened overnight that didn’t bring us to the same level. But also, they played well today.”

Ardianto surmised that the opening match had taken its toll on the Danes.

“We weren’t rushing the points and we were patient. The Danes went all out against Korea yesterday so we knew their stamina would be less than usual, so we grabbed our chance.”