Ranked 56th in the world, Jason Gunawan has achieved several victories in his budding career, the most recent being in the first round of the 2024 Li-Ning Hong Kong Open.
His victim, Kenta Nishimoto, is ranked 45 spots higher than Gunawan and shares the leaderboard with Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo and four-time Olympian Misha Zilberman.
However, Gunawan has yet to reach the quarterfinals of an HSBC BWF World Tour event, a goal he is targeting at his home tournament this year.
“For me, it’s been a good season. I’ve surprised some higher-ranked opponents, but I haven’t been able to reach the semifinals or make back-to-back quarterfinals,” the 20-year-old said after defeating Nishimoto 21-13, 21-18. “I hope I can do better in the coming months, starting with this tournament.”
When asked what it would take to make that next step, Gunawan responded: Patience. It all depends on patience.
“It’s much tougher playing against top players, and you feel more fatigued from using too much energy. Maybe my recovery isn’t good enough yet. I need to learn to do better in the future, and that’s something I want to improve.”
Gunawan has lofty ambitions. Reflecting on his win against Nishimoto, Gunawan said: “It’s unbelievable. I just focused on every point and didn’t think about winning or losing. I wanted to challenge my opponent and do my best.
“I was mentally prepared for a three-game match. He chased every ball, which I didn’t expect, but I hope to do better tomorrow.”
To reach the quarterfinals, Gunawan will need to defeat French player Christo Popov, ranked 28th in the world, who overcame Malaysia’s Cheam June Wei 21-19, 21-10.
