Indonesian men's singles player Jonatan Christie opened his campaign at the 2026 BWF World Championships with a victory over German representative Matthias Kicklitz in the round of 64 at the Indira Gandhi Indoor Stadium.
Jonatan, the third seed, won two straight games 21-15, 21-14 over Kicklitz in a match that lasted about 40 minutes.
"Overall, it was in line with our goals. We wanted to find our rhythm and learn more about the stadium's conditions," Jonatan said after the match, as quoted in a written statement from PBSI.
Based on the match's progress, Jonatan had to work hard from the start, as Kicklitz took a 4-0 lead in the first game. Jonatan briefly narrowed the gap to 2-4, but his opponent pulled away again, reaching 7-15.
Jonatan then slowly caught up and reduced the deficit to 13-18, before winning the next two points to make it 15-19. He then secured the first game with a score of 21-15.
In the second game, Jonatan fell behind significantly again. Kicklitz opened a 3-0 lead and then extended the lead to 7-1.
Jonatan tried to catch up and close the score to 9-11, but Kicklitz pulled away again to 9-14. After 10-16, Jonatan regained control and continued to accumulate points until he closed the second game 21-14.
