Three decades have passed since Indonesia last won men’s singles gold at the All England. Since then, three Indonesians have been in four finals, but the gold remained elusive.

That changed in the 125th year of the All England, with Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and Jonatan Christie ensuring a repeat of Hariyanto Arbi and Ardy Wiranata’s all-Indonesia men’s singles final.

Then, in the last match of the day, with Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto taking their place in the men’s doubles final, Indonesia have a shot at their best haul at an All England since 2014.

Ginting was first in, after dealing with a stubborn Christo Popov; Christie followed after a mid-match slump against Lakshya Sen.

“It’s been a lot of pressure, many expectations on our team to achieve a result like this,” said Christie. “We have been training hard every day. Every time we go home after a tournament, we analyse and try again, and repeat and repeat and repeat until we get a good story like this.”

Popov was the underdog against Ginting, but the Frenchman raised visions of an upset when he surged ahead. But Ginting’s speed and precision attack couldn’t be contained, and it was a comfortable finish for the Indonesian, 19-21 21-5 21-11.

“I was rushing my shots in the opening game and he was trying to push me hard. I think both of us were nervous today,” said Ginting.

“Yesterday I played with nothing to lose (against Viktor Axelsen). But when I played with Christo, there are more expectations on me to win. The important thing is for each of us to handle our own expectations.”

Other Highlights

» Carolina Marin will attempt to wrest the women’s singles title back after a gap of nine years. Marin was dominant over a physically struggling Tai Tzu Ying. In the final she takes on 2022 champion Akane Yamaguchi, who prevailed over defending champion An Se Young in an epic 82-minute semifinal.

» Yuta Watanabe’s love affair with the All England extended into a seventh All England final, with the Japanese in line for a sixth title. Watanabe and Arisa Higashino needed just 38 minutes to get past Robin Tabeling/Selena Piek, 21-14 21-16. The Japanese will attempt to stop Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong, who are going for their third title.

» The women’s doubles final will see Baek Ha Na/Lee So Hee against Nami Matsuyama/Chiharu Shida, with both pairs looking for their first title of 2024.

→ Results

WHAT THEY SAID:

“It was hard. Sometimes I felt my legs weren’t moving as quickly as I wanted. But I tried to maintain my speed and keep my position as much as possible.” – Yamaguchi after beating An

“It’s really great. We’ve played them many times. They are fast and have power; we used to be more on the backfoot. This time we decided to be more attacking and managed to move them around.” – Matsuyama on opponents Rena Miyaura and Ayako Sakuramoto

“I didn’t think about making history for Indonesia. From the beginning I tried to focus on myself; on my preparation physically and for strategy. I didn’t want anything to disturb my focus.” – Ginting