Sports · Other Sports · 11 hrs ago
Fajar and Fikri lose in French Open first round
Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri lost in the French Open first round in Paris on Wednesday.
They were beaten by Chinese Taipei’s Chiu Hsiang Chieh and Wang Chi-Lin at the Grand Paris Arena.
The third-seeded pair lost 24-26, 13-21 in two games.
The defeat came shortly after they won the Denmark Open 2026.
Fajar said the court and shuttlecock conditions in Paris were different from those in Denmark, making it harder to adjust.
He also said the pair were not fully focused or physically fresh after reaching the Denmark Open final, while Fikri said they lost focus late in the close first game.
They will review how to handle back-to-back tournaments as they prepare for upcoming events on the 2026 badminton calendar.
Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri lost to Chinese Taipei’s Chiu Hsiang Chieh and Wang Chi-Lin in the first round of the 2026 French Open.
The third-seeded pair were beaten in two games, 24-26, 13-21, at Grand Paris Arena in Paris on Wednesday.
Fajar said the different court and shuttlecock conditions, as well as their physical condition, affected their performance after the Denmark Open.
Fikri said they lost focus late in the first game and struggled to score with their attacks in the second.
- Who
- Indonesia’s Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, and Chinese Taipei’s Chiu Hsiang Chieh and Wang Chi-Lin.
- What
- Chiu and Wang beat Fajar and Fikri in two games, 26-24, 21-13, in the first round.
- When
- Wednesday, 21 October 2026.
- Where
- Grand Paris Arena in Paris, France.
- Why
- Fajar cited difficulty adapting to different court and shuttlecock conditions and said their focus and physical condition were not at 100 percent. Fikri said they lost focus late in the first game.
This story does not have two clearly opposing sides.
Fajar and Fikri won the Denmark Open title after playing in the final.
Fajar and Fikri lost to Chiu and Wang in the first round of the French Open in Paris.
- First-round score
- 24-26, 13-21
- Indonesian pair
- Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri
- Opponents
- Chiu Hsiang Chieh and Wang Chi-Lin of Chinese Taipei
- Venue
- Grand Paris Arena, Paris
- Seed
- Third
3 sources
What people are saying
This is an evaluation for us going forward on how to handle back-to-back tournaments when the court conditions are different. In Denmark the shuttle was fast, but here it was a bit slow. Our game was not good today.
We should have taken the points in the first game, but instead we lost focus at the end. In the second game, the opponents played safer and put on more pressure. Several times we attacked, but it did not get through.