Sharing the same fate as Jonatan Christie, Ubed crashed out in the quarter-finals of the 2026 Malaysia Masters.

The campaign of Indonesia's young men's singles shuttler Indonesia Mohammad Zaki Ubaidillah at the Malaysia Masters 2026 has come to an end. At the Quarter Final stage, Ubed was defeated by France's 3rd seed Christo Popov at Axiata Arena, Kuala Lumpur.

Ubed conceded after a tight two-game battle with final scores of 21-23, 19-21. This result also confirms Indonesia has no remaining representatives in the men's singles division. 

Prior to this match, Jonatan Christie had already been eliminated after falling to Chinese athlete Hu Zhe An with set scores 21-14, 13-21, 16-21.

Despite failing to progress to the semi-finals, Ubaidillah assessed this tournament run has provided critical experience for his senior career development. He confirmed he was able to execute the full match strategy prepared prior to the fixture.

"Alhamdulillah I was able to perform well today without any injury. Luck was not on my side for the final result, but praise be to God, everything I had planned from the start was properly applied," Ubed stated in an official PP PBSI release.

During this closely contested match, Ubed had at one point held a clear lead. However Christo Popov's experience as a top ranked world shuttler became the deciding factor on critical closing points.

"I was ahead earlier on, but as the games neared their end he controlled the match with far more composure. After this tight fight, it was his established mental strength from years of experience that made the difference," he remarked.

The young Indonesian athlete acknowledged this match against Popov served as a vital lesson, particularly for maintaining focus and mental stability when matches enter decisive closing phases.

"This is an extremely valuable lesson for me. There is so much to carry forward, most importantly How to manage my mindset and focus under pressure in tight matches," he added.

Even though his run ended in Kuala Lumpur, Ubed observed clear performance improvements compared to his previous tournament appearance in Thailand. He stated that reviews completed after last week's competition have started to show positive results in his performance at the Malaysia Masters 2026.

"Looking at my form, I know I underperformed back in Thailand and fell far short of expectations. But I learned from that outing, my play here was much better. I also progressed further than the last event, so I am grateful for this," he concluded.