Despite of men's doubles and mixed doubles are still mainstays for Indonesia, the men's singles should not be estimated.
Although not seeded, this sector could score victory for Indonesia when facing Denmark at the Piala Sudirman 2017. Anthony Sinisuka Ginting stunned 2016 Rio Olympic bronze medalist, Viktor Axelsen. Also, Jonatan Christie has just emerged runner up at the Thailand Open Grand Prix Gold 2017.
Men singles' players often made upsets at the Indonesia Open. Two years ago, Anthony crawling from the qualifying managed to breach the top eight and sent India's fourth seeded, Srikanth K, 14-21, 22-20, 21-13.
At 2016 BIOSSP, it was Jonatan who made upset by overcoming 2008 Beijing Olympic and 2012 London Olympic gold medalist, Lin Dan. Jonatan stunned Super Dan in two straight games, 21-12, 21-12.
Last year, Ihsan Maulana Mustofa was on the spotlight when he reached semifinal. Ihsan's advance was halted in the hands of the world's number two from Malaysia, Lee Chong Wei.
"In this tournament, I want to see the readiness of men's singles players, it is not about expecting upsets from them anymore. Hopefully, everyone will be able to play confidently since it affects the outcome,” said Hendry Saputra, the head coach of Indonesian Badminton Association Men's Singles.
However, the men's singles journey at this year's BIOSSP was not easy. Ihsan had to crawl in the qualifying round where he fought Wei Nan (Hong Kong) and he may face his senior Sony Dwi Kuncoro for a ticket to the main round.
Meanwhile in the second round, Anthony may face Lee Chong Wei. Previously, Tommy Sugiarto was the one who will take on Chong Wei in the first round. Jonatan will take on 2016 Rio Olympic, Chen Long (Tiongkok), in the second round.
“As for the tough drawing, it pretty common, this is premier level tournament, we cannot pick who we want to face. I am still counting my chances playing against my opponent. For instance, if Ginting wins once, he has the chance to meet Chong Wei, so the target is firstly, Ginting wins Chong Wei,” said Hendry.
“Jonatan is targeted to overcome Chen Long in round 16. As for Ihsan, he needs to be in draw and after that we'll see who will be his opponent. Hopefully Bayu (Pangisthu) and Panji (Ahmad Maulana) can go to qualifying round from the waiting list," Said Hendry.
He also explained about Ihsan's right ankle injury not long ago. “Until now, Ihsan's right ankle is 80% recovered," he ended.
