The achievement of the men’s doubles pair, nicknamed “Minions”, made Indonesia proud. Kevin and Marcus won the match at the All England, defeating Danish men’s double.
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Indonesian men\'s doubles players Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo win the men\'s doubles Daihatsu Indonesia Masters 2018 at Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Sunday (28/1). The title holder of the All England 2017, Marcus and Kevin beat Chinese men\'s doubles pair Li JunHui-Liu Yuchen 11-21, 21-10, 21-16.
The victory of Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon at the All England 2018 gives hope for the future of Indonesian badminton.
The achievement of the men’s doubles pair, nicknamed “Minions”, made Indonesia proud. Kevin and Marcus won the match at the All England, defeating Danish men’s double Mathias Boe-Carsten Mogensen in two straight sets, 21-18, 21-17.
Kevin and Marcus’ achievement is a ray of hope to bring home the trophy at the Thomas Cup and Uber Cup in May. They will also play at the World Championship and Asian Games in August. At the Asian Games, badminton is expected to contribute at east one gold medal.
In a short time, less than two months, it was hard for us to bring home Thomas and Uber Cup trophies. Not to mention the weakness of the men’s double and women’s double players that is left behind far from other countries.
Before the All England, the PBSI saw the opportunity in mix doubles. But, our three mixed doubles pairs were only able to reach the quarterfinals. In fact, the main mixed doubles pair, which is the three time All England champions (2012-2014), Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir, lost in the second qualifier to their sparring pair in Cipayung, Hafiz Faizal and Gloria E Widjaja.
The optimism to grab Thomas and Uber Cup was based on the result of the Asia Championship last February. The men’s team won the championship and the women’s team reached the semifinals. Yet, the optimism degraded following poor performance at the All England.
Of the three men singles athletes at the All England, Jonatan Christie and Tommy Sugiarto surrendered in the second qualifying match. Jonatan was unbeatable at the Asia Championship, but at the All England he surrendered to Son Wan-ho, 21-16, 21-12 in the second qualifying match.
Indeed, there is a difference in service rule between the Asia Team Championship and All England. The World Badminton Federation does not allow the shuttlecock to be higher than 1.15 meters from the ground when serving. This rule applies to big tournaments such as the All England, Thomas and Uber Cup and other world championships.
When competing at the Germany Open in early March, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto committed several faults during service. Although it is a bit disturbing for the training, our players were able to serve well at the All England.
Gold medalist at the Barcelona Olympics, Susy Susanti, who is now chairperson of the PBSI’s sports development, said there was a lot of work to be done ahead of the Thomas and Uber Cup. Susy said only Kevin and Gideon had shown consistency on the court.
Hard work and motivation is needed, but both coaches and players need to work toward consistency at the Thomas and Uber Cup to prepare for the Asian Games.
