Indonesian men's singles badminton player Richie Duta Richardo advanced to the final of the Polytron Kudus Indonesia Masters 2026, after defeating Chinese representative Zhu Xuan Chen in the semifinals in Kudus.
Hot Topics
Richie won through a three-game battle with a score of 21-16, 13-21, 21-16 at the Djarum Arena Sports Hall, avenging his defeat to Zhu in their meeting last week.
"I'm grateful to have won, so I can avenge last week's defeat," said Richie after the match.
He admitted that he was grateful to be able to complete the match without experiencing any injuries or other obstacles.
Richie said patience was key to his game in the first game. Although Zhu had a variety of shots, his opponent also made several unforced errors.
However, Richie admitted that his game slackened in the second game, resulting in many unforced errors.
When he was quite far behind, he chose to save his energy for the deciding game.
"Fortunately, in the third game after the interval, the wind was in our favor. So we had to play at a faster tempo. Luckily, in the third game, we already knew the strategy and followed the coach's instructions. The execution also went well," he said.
Richie said the support of the crowd in Kudus also added to his motivation to achieve victory.
This success marked his first experience of reaching the final of a BWF World Tour Super 100 level badminton tournament.
"This is also my first time qualifying for the Super 100 final, so I'm very happy. But I won't be satisfied until I win again in the final against a Chinese representative," he said.
In the final, Richie will face another Chinese representative, Dong Tian Yao.
Richie admitted that he had never met Dong in an official match so he would prepare himself for the title-deciding match.
Tags:
sports