Alwi Farhan (Photo by Tony2803.tw)
Indonesia’s former world junior champion Alwi Farhan stunned top seeded Li Shifeng to qualify for the men’s singles final at the Swiss Open badminton championships in St. Jakobshalle.
He will take on Japan’s Yushi Tanaka, who stopped another Indonesian Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the semi-finals.
Twenty-year-old Alwi, who won the Indonesian Masters earlier this year, defeated Shifeng 21-10, 21-19.
The reigning SEA Games champion was in total control of the first game, leading 8-3, 11-4 before Shifeng whittled down the score to 13-9. But, Alwi’s aggressive smashing game saw him asserting his authority and take the game 21-10.
The second game saw Alwi maintaining his form, leading 11-5 at the interval and stretching it to 16-6. Shifeng was suddenly making all the right moves as he reeled off 10 unanswered point to draw level at 16-16.
The match was suddenly tighter than expected but Alwi was on top again to retake the lead and held match point at 20-18. Shifeng saved one match point but could not stop Alwi from a well-deserved final appearance.
Meanwhile, Ginting, looking to rebuild his career, was beaten 17-21, 12-21 by Tanaka. The Indonesian, who struggled all through 2025 and whose comeback was derailed by a back injury in January, had to come through the qualifying draw.
In the women’s singles, 2025 world bronze medallist and No.1 seed Putri Kusuma Wardani took 39 minutes to defeat Japan’s Nozomi Okuhara 21-16, 21-13 and book her place in the final.
She will play Thailand’s Supanida Katethong in the final after beating Lin Hsiang Ti of Taiwan 14-21, 21-18, 23-21.
After a back-and-forth start to the opening game, at 4-4, the top-seeded 23-year-old Putri then went on an eight-point run for a commanding 12-4.
Nozomi, an Olympic bronze medallist fromRio 2016, responded with six straight points to cut the deficit to 16–11, before narrowing it further to 17–13.
But any hopes of the Japanese shuttler further reeling in Wardani were shut down, with the Indonesian able to close out the opener 21–16.
The second game proved a much tighter affair, with neither player able to generate any significant advantage.
At 13-13, however, Wardani eventually broke the deadlock, generating nine unanswered points, to clinch the game 21-13, and the match, 2-0.
SEMI-FINAL RESULTS
Men’s singles: Yushi Tanaka (Jpn) bt Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (Ina) 21-17, 21-12; bt Alwi Farhan (Ina) bt Li Shifeng (Chn) 21-10, 21-19
Men’s doubles: Daniel Lundgaard-Mads Vestergaard (Den) bt Peeratchai Sukphun-Pakkapon Teeraratsakul (Tha) 21-18, 21-13; Lee Fang-Chih-Lee Fang-Jen (Tpe) bt Christian Faust Kjaer-Rasmus Kjaer (Den) 16-21, 21-13, 23-21
Women’s singles: Putri Kusuma Wardani (Ina) bt Nozomi Okuhara (Jpn) 21-16, 21-13; Supanida Katethong (Tha) bt Lin Hsiang Ti (Tpe) 14-21, 21-18, 23-21
Women’s doubles: Jia Yifan-Zhang Shuxian (Chn) bt Bao Lijing-Luo Xumin (Chn) 21-16, 21-10; Li Yijing-Wang Yiduo (Chn) bt Gabriela Stoeva-Stefani Stoeva (Bul) 15-21, 23-21, 21-16
Mixed doubles: Cheng Xing-Zhang Chi (Chn) bt Amri Syahnawi-Nota Violina Marwah (Ina) 14-21, 21-15, 21-13; Zhu Yijun-Li Qian (Chn) bt Gao Jiaxuan-Wu Mengying (Chn) 21-14, 21-14
