Indonesian men’s doubles badminton players Fajar Alfian (left) and Muhammad Rian Ardianto (right) gave a press statement upon arriving from England at Terminal 3, Soekarno Hatta Airport, Tangerang, Banten on Monday (18/3/2024). Fajar/Rian will participate in the Indonesian Open badminton tournament at Istora GBK, Senayan, from 4-9 June.
JAKARTA, KOMPAS-Even though it was held after the qualifying period for 2024 Paris Olympics, the badminton tournament Kapal Api Indonesia Openstill has an important meaning for athletes. This BWF World Tour Super 1000 level tournament will be a place to hunt for big points, which could be useful for making badminton players the favorites in Paris 2024.
The 2024 Indonesia Open will be held at Istora Gelora Bung Karno, Jakarta, on June 4-9 with a total prize pool of IDR 20.7 billion. Olympic qualification, which starts May 1 2023, will end on April 28 2024. Meanwhile, the Paris Olympics will take place July 26 – August 11 and five badminton gold medals will be contested July 27-August 5.
The Indonesia Open is still connected to the Olympics. Players can earn points to be seeded in Paris.
Since first participating in the Helsinki Olympics in 1952, only badminton has been able to win gold medals for Indonesia. The first gold medal was earned by Susy Susanti in Barcelona 1992 when badminton was first contested. Meanwhile, the last gold medal was obtained by the women’s doubles pair, Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
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Indonesian men’s badminton singles players Jonatan Christie (left) and Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (right) gave a press statement upon their arrival from England at Terminal 3, Soekarno-Hatta Airport in Tangerang, Banten on Monday (18/3/2024). Jonatan and Anthony will participate in the Indonesian Open badminton tournament at Istora GBK in Senayan from 4-9 June.
With the schedule listed on the BWF event calendar, the Indonesia Open is held after the quota for each country in each event for the Olympics is known. This quota is based on the Olympic qualification ranking, which will be announced by the BWF on April 30th.
Every country is entitled to a maximum quota of two tickets per number, subject to certain conditions. Two single players can represent a country if they are ranked in the top 16. Meanwhile, two doubles representatives can be obtained if those two pairs are ranked in the top eight. Athletes to be registered are selected by their respective country’s federation, but usually tend to be those with the best rankings.
Also read: What happens after winning the All England?
Before the Olympics, the BWF calendar has various prestigious events, such as the Asian/European Championships, Thomas and Uber Cup, Singapore Open, and Indonesia Open. “The Indonesia Open still has a connection to the Olympics. Players can earn points to become seeded in Paris,” said the Head of Performance Development at PP PBSI, Ricky Soebagdja in a press conference for Indonesia Open in Jakarta on Tuesday (2/4/2024).
After the quota numbers for each country were announced, BWF set July 8th as the deadline for athlete registration. After registration, the seedings can be announced. The singles category consists of 14 seeds, while the doubles only have four seeds. For those positions, badminton players will focus on performing as best as they can, although the main target for peak performance remains in Paris 2024.
Indonesian players Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto showed off the trophy and medals they won after becoming champions of All England at Utilita Arena, Birmingham, England on Sunday (17/3/2024).
“The Indonesia Open is a prestigious tournament. Points from there will matter for the Olympics. Rian and I have to focus on being top at the Olympics, too, because we have never won the Indonesia Open,” said men’s doubles player, Fajar Alfian, who won the All England with Fajar Alfian. a href=”http://www.bing.com/news/URL_PLACEHOLDER”>Muhammad Rian Ardianto, 12-17 July.
They aim to become one of the top four contenders in the Olympics, in order to avoid competing against strong opponents in the earlier rounds. “Based on our latest ranking, we are in seventh place. Although there will only be four top contenders for men’s doubles, we will strive for it,” said Fajar.
Also read: Many Badminton Athletes Have Qualified for the Olympics
The 2023 Indonesia Open men’s singles finalist, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, will use the Indonesia Open as a test before the Olympics. “I want to improve my performance after reaching the final last year. “Hopefully we can produce maximum results at the opportunity to appear at the Indonesia Open this time,” said Anthony.
Based on the qualification rankings issued on Tuesday, Anthony ranks sixth. He is two levels below Jonatan Christie who defeated him in the all-Indonesian men’s singles final at All England. This position makes the men’s singles the only event that secures two Olympic tickets for Indonesia, as of now.
Indonesian badminton players, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (left) and Jonatan Christie (right), pose with their coach, Irwansyah (center), after competing in the men’s singles final at the All England in Arena Birmingham, England, on Sunday (17/3/2024).
Return to Istora
After announcing that the 2024 Indonesia Open would be moved from Istora to the Indonesia Arena from the 2023 Indonesia Open, tournament committee chairman Armand Darmadji had to correct the plan because conditions did not allow it. Armand explained, after carrying out three surveys, it was discovered that the structure of the Indonesia Arena did not allow for rigging (installation of a rigging system to support the poles) for various purposes for badminton tournaments like the Indonesia Open.
“The required rigging cannot be installed there because it poses a risk to the building. If forced to use standing rigging, it will interfere with the audience’s view. “So, it is a shame that the Indonesia Open cannot be held at the Indonesia Arena, even though badminton is expected to be held there,” he said.
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The Indonesia Arena is a new indoor building located in the Gelora Bung Karno area with a capacity of 16,000 spectators. The building is used to hold basketball events, such as the FIBA World Cup from August 25 to September 3, 2023, and was inaugurated by President Jokowi on August 7, 2023. At that time, the President said that the Indonesia Arena can be used for hosting basketball tournaments and other sports, such as badminton, volleyball, and futsal, as well as hosting concerts.
However, in order for an international badminton tournament at the level of the Indonesia Open to be held there, adjustments are apparently needed. “We have submitted a design to the Gelora Bung Karno Complex Management Center (PP GBK), detailing the requirements to host a badminton tournament. They said they will make improvements,” said Armand.
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The Indonesian men’s badminton team tested the Istora Gelora Bung Karno court in Senayan, Jakarta on Thursday (16/8/2018). Istora will once again become the host of the Indonesia Open badminton tournament, from 4-9 June 2024.
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Meanwhile, ticket sales for the Indonesia Open will begin online on April 26 starting at 13.00 WIB. Tickets consist of Category 2, Category 1, and VIP. Apart from that, ticket prices in the range of IDR 150,000 to IDR 2,150,000 are also determined by the type of presale and normal tickets.
