Four points that took Alwi Farhan into the Kumamoto semifinals

The 21-17, 21-12 victory in Kumamoto on Friday, November 13, 2026, ended Ubaidillah’s tournament and left Alwi one win from the final. The quarterfinal was played on Court 3 at Kumamoto Prefectural Gymnasium; the LeBadiste match record lists its duration as 43 minutes. It was a straight-games result, but the opening game required Alwi to establish control twice.⁠2⁠5⁠21

Ubaidillah, known as Ubed, had made the contest uncomfortable from the outset. He repeatedly moved ahead before Alwi drew level, a pattern that continued through 7-7. Alwi’s first break came with three consecutive points for 10-7. He reached the interval 11-8 ahead, then extended the gap to 13-8 and 15-9. At that stage, he had built enough room to absorb a small recovery—not the sustained one that followed.⁠1

Ubed first cut the deficit with two points. A shot that went long helped Alwi move to 16-11, and he still held a five-point advantage at 17-12. Then Ubed won five in succession. His recovery included a hard smash, a successful exchange at the net and a shuttle placed in the forecourt beyond Alwi’s reach to make it 17-17. This was not simply a lead surrendered through errors: Ubed had found ways to finish points himself.⁠1

Alwi stopped that run immediately. He took the next three points, the third with a hard smash to earn game point at 20-17. Successive smashes then finished the game at his first opportunity. Ubed’s work had restored equality, but it had not bought him a lead—or another point.⁠1

That distinction matters more than the comfortable appearance of the final score. Alwi did not protect his first substantial advantage all the way to the finish. What he demonstrated instead was the ability to respond when it disappeared. At the moment Ubed had done enough to make the game uncertain again, Alwi supplied its decisive attacking passage.

The players’ assessments offer an explanation without reducing the match to a single rally. As reported by detikSport, Alwi felt he had prepared properly to handle Ubed’s speed and attacks. He also said playing on Court 3 in the preceding round had helped him understand the conditions and feel more in control. Their familiarity with each other’s playing patterns did not remove the need for that preparation.⁠2

Ubed’s account described the other side of the same problem: Alwi’s frequent changes of tempo disrupted what he had planned, and his intended approach had not worked from the start. Knowing an opponent’s game and being able to impose your own on it are different things. In this quarterfinal, Alwi was better able to make the match follow his preferred rhythm.⁠2

The second game gave that assessment firmer support. Alwi opened a 6-3 lead, moved to 10-5 and took the next point for an 11-5 interval advantage. He was six points clear again at 15-9, then widened the margin to 17-10 and 19-10. Unlike the opening game, those later gains did not dissolve into a level score.⁠1

An Ubed shot out brought match point at 20-12. Alwi finished with a cross-court shot his opponent could not reach. Ubed could still take some encouragement from going further in Kumamoto after an opening-round defeat at the Korea Open the previous week, as he told detikSport. But his five-point burst in the first game remained his last sustained challenge to Alwi’s command of this match.⁠1⁠2

The semifinal picture has moved on from the initial match report. DetikSport’s earlier account left Alwi awaiting the winner of Yushi Tanaka against Lakshya Sen. Subsequent reporting by The Indian Express says Sen won that quarterfinal 21-16, 21-15 and will face Alwi on Saturday, November 14. That establishes the reported pairing, though it has not been independently checked against the official men’s singles draw here.⁠2⁠18

Alwi had said he would be ready for either opponent and would concentrate on his own preparation. The official tournament schedule lists Saturday’s semifinal session as starting at 10 a.m. Japan time; that is not a confirmed start time for his individual match, and his court assignment is not established.⁠2⁠20

The tournament runs November 10–15, with Sunday’s finals session scheduled for 11 a.m. Japan time, subject to change. Alwi has secured a place in the last four, not the final. His strongest evidence from Friday is nevertheless clear: when Ubed erased the margin, Alwi did not need a comfortable lead to finish the job.⁠16⁠20