RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Indonesia's men's single player Jonatan Christie, known as Jojo, failed to maintain his strong start and was knocked out of the Malaysia Masters 2026 quarterfinals in Kuala Lumpur on Friday, May 22, 2026.

Jonatan surrendered a one-game lead in a three-game defeat to China’s 19-year-old rising player Hu Zhe An, losing the rubber-game battle 21-14, 13-21, 16-21 despite initially appearing in control.

He started strongly from the opening rally, capitalizing on Hu’s error at the net before building momentum through a series of powerful smashes that troubled the Chinese teenager, Antara reported. He quickly established dominance in the first game, racing to a 5-0 lead and entering the interval ahead 11-5.

Although Hu attempted to mount a comeback and narrowed the deficit to 11-13, Jonatan regained control and sealed the opening game 21-14 with a sharp cross-court winner.

The momentum shifted dramatically in the second game as Hu adopted a more aggressive approach. The Chinese player moved ahead 4-2 before Jonatan leveled at 5-5, but Hu then reeled off four consecutive points to take command and led 11-7 at the interval.

Hu continued to apply pressure after the break, extending his advantage to 16-9. Jonatan briefly reduced the gap to 13-17, but Hu responded with another strong run of points to force a deciding game.

The third game developed into a tight contest, with both players level at 7-7 before several unforced errors from Jonatan allowed Hu to open an 11-7 lead at the interval.

Jonatan managed to close the gap to 11-12 and later 14-15, but Hu maintained his composure in the closing stages and secured the deciding game 21-16 to complete the upset victory in 71 minutes.

The win further underlined Hu Zhe An’s growing potential after the teenager had already eliminated French seed Alex Lanier in the previous round. ***