Defeating his fellow Anthony Ginting, Jonatan Christie doesn’t want to be Taufik Hidayat II

Second rounds of “YONEX-SUNRISE Hong Kong Open 2018” was held today (15th Nov) at the Hong Kong Coliseum, featuring players from overseas and mainland China. Jonatan Christie , the Asian Games gold medalist battled with his fellow Indonesian Anthony Ginting for almost an hour and won in straight games 21:15, 25:23. He will meet world No.1 Kento Momota in quarter-finals.

As Hong Kong players were scheduled to play at night, the afternoon session of Hong Kong Open featured players from Japan, China and Korea. No.6 seed Son Wan-Ho of Korea took on Thailand’s world 15th player Khosit Phetpradab in Men’s Singles 2nd round. Son scored 5 points in row and snatched the first game by 21:15. Phetpradab came back in the second game and was once leading 5 points. However, he could not hold on to his advantage and losing the match by 19:20.

The other highlight match was between two Indonesians, Asian Games bronze medalist Anthony Ginting and No.7 seed, Asian Games gold medalist Jonatan Christie. Christie won the first game 21:15 with his powerful strikes. The China Open Champion Ginting could not hold on to his over 10 point’s advantage in the second game and lost it by 25:23 after 5 deuces.

Christie received overwhelming cheers and applause from the spectators after the match, he said, ‘I don’t want to be called Taufik Hidayat II. We have lots of good players at home. It’s discouraging to other players if people calling me that name.’ Christie’s long term goal is 2020 Tokyo Olympics and he would like to improve his skills and minimize his weaknesses. In the next round, he will face Kento Mamoto who he thinks is the best player in the world.

In Women’s Single, world number 7 He Bingjiao prevailed over her fellow teammate Cai Yanyan in two straight games. Cai who lost to He last month in Denmark Open took the led in both games. However, No.8 seed He adjusted her pace and came back from a 6 point deficit in the first game won the match by 21:16, 21:18. He might play against Sindu or Sung Ji-hyun in the next match. She said, ‘I wish to progress to top 4 and surpass last year’s result. Today I didn’t get into the match fast enough. But I told myself not to give up and keep myself calm. Everything will be fine if you change the game tactics.’

No.2 seed of Women’s Singles, Japanese Akane Yamaguchi eliminated Han Yue of China 21:19, 21:11 in only 29 minutes. No.7 seeds of Women’s Doubles, Lee So Hee/Shin Seung Chan of Korea won in straight games over China’s Li Wenmei/Zheng Yu 21:15, 21:16. They will take on Thailand Puttita Supajirakul/Sapsiree Taerattanachai in the quarter-finals.