Jakarta. The 2025 Indonesia Masters badminton tournament had just come to an end with no Indonesian winner.

On Sunday, Indonesians pinned their hopes on men’s singles athlete Jonatan Christie and men’s doubles pair Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto to secure first place on the 2025 Indonesia Masters podium.

However, Jonatan only came second after losing 21-18, 17-21, 18-21, to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn. The same goes for Fajar/Rian. Malaysia’s Man Wei Chong and Tee Kai Wun beat them 21-11, 21-19 in a match that only lasted 38 minutes. The tournament took place at Jakarta’s Istora Senayan -- an indoor stadium known for the Indonesian fans’ never-ending roars. Despite the cheers, the Indonesian athletes succumbed to defeat in front of a full house.

Not long after his loss to Vitidsarn, Jonatan -- popularly known as Jojo -- admitted that day was not his finest hour. Jojo also said that Vitidsarn was incredibly calm throughout the match.

“But to be frank, I feel like I have failed. My coach and I were aiming to win the 2025 Indonesia Masters,” Jojo told a presser.

Later that day, Fajar said that Man/Tee were “both incredibly aggressive since the game began”, when asked what was the greatest challenge during the match. “They had incredible speed and power. They are young players who are currently on the rise,” Fajar said.

History repeated itself. In 2021, Jakarta failed to have an Indonesia Masters winner. Men’s doubles legend Marcus Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya were Indonesia’s only hope at the time, but the pair got beaten by Japan’s Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi.

The 2025 Indonesia Masters also saw men’s doubles legend Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan bow out of their professional career after being together for over a decade. They lost to Malaysia’s Junaidi Arif/Roy King Yap 13-21, 14-21 in the tournament’s top 16 match last Thursday.

Indonesia is one of the global powerhouses in badminton. The Southeast Asian nation has also won Olympic gold across all badminton disciplines.