Indonesian men's singles badminton player Jonatan Christie was stopped in the round of 16 of the BWF Tour Super 1000 China Open 2025 after being forced to admit the toughness of French representative Christo Popov in a dramatic rubber game 12-21, 21-13 and 16-21 at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, Changzhou.
Although he admitted that he was disadvantaged by the wind conditions on the field, Jonatan stated that he had tried his best to play his best game.
"There are pros and cons to court conditions. Earlier, when the conditions were unfavorable at the start of the third game, I tried my best to keep the score close because after the interval, the court conditions were much better," said the athlete, known as Jojo, as quoted by PBSI.
Jojo admitted that Popov also experienced similar conditions, appearing to still be adapting to the field and often losing points due to the wind.
The 2024 All England champion assessed that he often lost points at crucial moments in this match and will improve this.
"Besides, I made several mistakes myself so he could get a lot of points easily and quickly," said Jojo.
Despite being eliminated in the round of 16, Jojo admitted that he was satisfied with his performance which was improving day by day compared to the two tournaments he participated in, namely the 2025 Singapore Open, the 2025 Indonesia Open, and the 2025 Japan Open.
"Even though the result was still stopped in the second round, the way we played and tested on the court was much better," said the world's fourth-ranked badminton player.
Jojo's retirement also ensures that Indonesia has no remaining representatives in the men's singles event. Previously, Alwi Farhan and Anthony Sinisuka Ginting were eliminated in the first round.
