USA continued to make a buzz late into Wednesday evening at the POLYTRON Indonesia Open 2026, with Chen Zhi Yi/Presley Smith very nearly taking out sixth seeds Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani.

After the morning session, in which Francesca Corbett/Jennie Gai created a sensation by beating world No.4 Jia Yi Fan/Zhang Shu Xian, it was their teammates’ turn as they came to within a point of a similar outcome.

Having recovered from 14-18 down in the third, Chen and Smith overtook the Indonesians, saving a match point and holding one of their own. However, with the roaring crowd and nerves setting in, the opportunity slipped, and the home pair squeezed past, 21-19 13-21 23-21.

“It was tough, but I think we played pretty well, so we’re happy about the performance, but it’s always so close we get with some top 10 pairs, it’s just that little bit at the end, we can’t convert, so still much to work on,” said Smith.

“I was already happy to see them (Corbett/Gai) win in the morning, like I was in the Airbnb watching the match. I was so excited. I thought, now I have the pressure, now I have to do well too. I think we’re improving a lot year by year.”

The difference, he said, had come down to nerves at the end.

“It’s just at that point it’s a more mental battle than physical. Everyone is nervous, shaking, even shaking while serving. It’s just about who makes the right decision, like how risky it is, you have to take the risk, or if you want to play safe, then play safe. On my serve at match point, he (Isfahani) had a great return, it hit the net, and I hit a bad shot in return and he just killed it… They kept it together at the end, unlike us, so they deserved the win.”

Pan Am had cause to rejoice, however, with Victor Lai outgunning All England champion Lin Chun-Yi in straight games. The Canadian, who had fallen to Lin in a close semifinal of the India Open, was dominant in the opening game and then whittled down a big deficit in the second.

“My coach just told me to stay focused because it’s really easy to just get distracted, like it’s really easy to look at another court or hear the fans, and just look around, so he told me to stay grounded, and also when I was on the quicker side, it’s easier (for the shuttle) to go out, right? My opponent’s also going to have an easier time attacking. So it was really important for me, like my coach reminded me just to play the front very well, to not give him the easy chance, because if it’s an easy chance, even the best defense in the world can’t get a smash.”

Highlights

» Defending champion Anders Antonsen was among the high-profile casualties, falling in in 39 minutes to recent Singapore Open champion Alex Lanier, 21-8 21-17.

» Women’s doubles third seeds Baek Ha Na/Lee So Hee were upset by home pair Amallia Cahaya Pratiwi/Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti 21-13 17-21 21-14.

» Recent Malaysia Masters champion Ratchanok Intanon fell in three close games to Chiu Pin-Chian 19-21 16-21 21-19.

» Men doubles third seeds Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri were shown the door by Chen Bo Yang/Liu Yi, 21-13 21-14.

What They Said

“Right now we are in a good place, like this is the peak of our career so we have a lot of confidence in taking it tournament by tournament and trying to keep the momentum up.” – Alexandra Boje

“We have been playing well in all these Southeast Asian tournaments, where there is a lot of drift, so I think we are performing well in tricky conditions.” – Mathias Christiansen

“To be honest, I feel good, but also a little bit annoyed, because I believe that he didn’t play his best match. I did the right thing tactically, and also to stay in it when he was not playing the best, and he tried to put pressure on me, so I’m proud to actually manage the match like this.” – Alex Lanier, after beating defending champ Anders Antonsen

→Results (Day 2)

→Order of Play (Day 3)