[Saba Sports News] According to Indonesian media, Jonatan Christie suffered a heavy blow after losing the men’s singles final at the Indonesia Open. The former Asian Games champion has decided to take a break from badminton to recuperate and reset his mental state. Indonesia’s men’s singles contingent had gone 12 years without lifting the title on home soil since Simon Santoso claimed victory back in 2012, and Jonatan was widely seen as the nation’s best hope to end this unwanted drought this year. Jonatan has been stuck in a slump for weeks. At last month’s Thomas Cup finals held in Horsens, Denmark, Indonesia exited the group stage for the first time in its history. He also crashed out in the first round at last week’s Singapore Open. As such, he intends to step away from competition temporarily to recharge ahead of two major upcoming tournaments: the World Championships in New Delhi this August, followed by the Asian Games in Aichi-Nagoya this September.
The editor believes that Jonatan still has plenty of major tournaments left this year, including the World Championships and Asian Games, so he has more than enough goals to strive for.