Indonesia’s rising men’s singles player Moh Zaki Ubaidillah made an impressive debut at the BWF Super 750 Japan Open 2026, advancing to the second round after defeating Denmark’s Rasmus Gemke.
Competing at the Tokyo Metropolitan Gymnasium on Wednesday, July 15, 2026, the player affectionately known as Ubed secured a 21-14, 16-21, 21-18 victory. The result saw him join Alwi Farhan, who had already booked his place in the second round. Both unseeded Indonesian men’s singles players emerged as standout performers amid the fierce competition of the Super 750 tournament.
“I lost my focus for a moment and became a bit emotional. I still need to improve my ability to control situations like that. Fortunately, my coach kept reassuring me. I tried to regulate my breathing and calm myself down, and eventually I was able to turn the match around. It was an important lesson for the future,” he said.
In the second round, Ubaidillah faces a much tougher challenge against third seed Anders Antonsen of Denmark. The world No. 3 progressed after defeating Toma Popov Junior. The upcoming match will mark the first meeting between the two players.
Should Ubaidillah overcome Antonsen, he will likely face the winner of the match between Japan’s Koki Watanabe and Ireland’s Nhat Nguyen in the quarterfinals.
Putri KW Cruises into the Second Round
In the women’s singles event, Putri Kusuma Wardani also secured her place in the second round. The sixth seed delivered a commanding performance to defeat American Zhang Beiwen 21-6, 21-5.
Putri admitted she was surprised by her opponent’s performance, noting that Zhang did not play at her usual level and appeared noticeably slower on court.
“Thank God everything went smoothly and I stayed injury-free. I was a little surprised by Zhang Beiwen’s performance. In our previous meetings, she played very well and was difficult to beat, but today her movement looked quite sluggish. So I kept directing the shuttle to areas that made her uncomfortable,” she said.
In the second round, Putri will face Huang Yu-Hsun of Taiwan, who defeated her at the Indonesia Masters earlier this year. She said she would approach the match without pressure and focus solely on her own game, rather than dwelling on their previous head-to-head record.
Men’s Doubles
Meanwhile, Indonesia’s men’s doubles pair Sabar Karyaman Gutama and Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani began their Japan Open campaign with a first-round victory.
They defeated Taiwan’s Chiu Hsiang Chieh and Wang Chi-Lin 21-18, 17-21, 21-16, providing Indonesia’s men’s doubles squad with a positive start to the tournament.
However, Sabar and Reza had to battle hard for the win, as Reza was still recovering from injury. He revealed that the back injury he suffered last year had flared up again ahead of the tournament.
The setback forced him to suspend training for a week in Jakarta and limit himself to light practice sessions after arriving in Japan.
Despite not being fully fit, Reza decided to compete while taking care not to aggravate the injury.
“Thank God we managed to win today’s match. I’m still not in my best condition because my back injury has flared up again. The most important thing was to play without making the injury worse,” he said.
Looking ahead to the second round, Reza admitted he could not yet predict whether his physical condition would improve. He hopes to recover further, although he recognizes that returning to full fitness in such a short time will be difficult.***
