RRI.CO.ID, Jakarta - Indonesian men's doubles badminton pair Raymond Indra/Nikolaus Joaquin were eliminated in the round of 16 of the 2026 China Open after losing to China's seventh-seeded duo Chen Bo Yang/Liu Yi.

Raymond/Joaquin were defeated in straight games, 13-21, 17-21, in a 40-minute match on Court 2 at the Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium in Changzhou, China, on Thursday, July 23, 2026.

"We were not prepared for the way they played. They kept playing deep shots, which made us hesitate. We took too long to anticipate their game," Raymond said after the match on Thursday.

Raymond said, their opponents forced them to rely on greater power and precision, especially when playing against the wind. "We need to improve our power and technique because, particularly when playing against the wind, we struggled to finish rallies," he added.

Meanwhile, Nikolaus Joaquin said court conditions remained unpredictable despite thorough preparation. He admitted making too many mistakes that should not happen at the highest level.

"We prepared both tactically and mentally, but you never really know what conditions will be like once you're on court. I made too many mistakes that world-class players shouldn't make, and I repeated them several times," Joaquin said.

Despite the defeat, Joaquin remained determined to learn from the experience and improve. "I tried to fight back and had some opportunities, but the gap was already too large to recover. This is a major lesson for me personally," he concluded. (Diffa Sephiawardhani)