Fajar swaps partner in bid to end Indonesia's title drought
PETALING JAYA: Do not write off Indonesia's men's doubles just yet.
That's the rallying cry from top shuttler Fajar Alfian as he is optimistic that his country's World Tour title drought in the men's doubles will be over soon this year.
Despite being traditionally strong in the men's doubles, Indonesia have surprisingly fired blanks as far as titles are concerned so far this year – an unusual dry spell for a nation renowned for their depth and dominance in the discipline.
And Fajar believes that a temporary switch-and-swap in partnership for him will work wonders.
The 30-year-old Fajar, who is ranked fifth in the world with Rian Ardianto, will embark on a short partnership with Shohibul Fikri in the Japan Open starting on Tuesday in Tokyo and the China Open from July 22-27 in Changzhou.
This is after Shohibul's regular partner Daniel Marthin underwent knee surgery last month and will need some time to recover.
Fajar is hoping to impress with Shohibul in the two Opens.
"Our men's doubles have not won a title this year but for me, it's just a matter of time that one of our pairs become champions," said Fajar in an interview in the Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) website.
"So far this year, some of us have reached finals in tournaments but we have missed out on titles.
"It will definitely not be easy but we have to keep aiming high. I'm optimistic that we can do better moving forward."
Fajar's best performance with Rian so far this year came at home in the Indonesian Masters in Jakarta in January where they finished runners-up to Malaysia's world No. 7 Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun.
In the Japan and China tourneys, Fajar and Shohibul are set to present a tricky challenge for their rivals.
The pair could go up against Malaysia's world No. 1 and defending champions Goh Sze Fei-Nur Izzuddin Rumsani if they reach the last eight.
Fajar-Shohibul though will first have to navigate a difficult opening match against world No. 8 teammates Sabar Gutama-Moh Reza before a potential clash against either Denmark's Rasmus Kjaer-Frederik Sogaard or Taiwan's Lee Jhe-huei-Yang Po-hsuan in the second round.
Another Indonesian pair in the competition hoping to end their title drought this year are world No. 9 Leo Rolly-Bagas Maulana.
Leo-Bagas will play Taiwan's world No. 24 Liu Kuang-heng-Yang Po-han in the first round.
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