Indonesian shuttlers Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (left) and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon hold a trophy they received after their all-Indonesian men’s doubles final match against Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan at the Japan Open badminton tournament in Tokyo on Sunday (28/7/2019).
TOKYO, SUNDAY — Two consecutive badminton tournaments featured an all-Indonesian final in the men\'s doubles, which should motivate other players to become part of Indonesia\'s strength on the world stage.
Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo-Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Hendra Setiawan-Mohammad Ahsan repeated their Indonesia Open final at the Japan Open tournament on Sunday (28/7/2019), when Kevin-Marcus won 21-18, 23-21 at the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza in Tokyo, Japan.
This is the third title for the "Minions" at the Japan Open BWF World Tour Super 750. The last player to claim a hat trick at Tokyo was Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia) in 2012-2014.
Having an all-Indonesian final at two consecutive tournaments has been a source of pride, even for Hendra-Ahsan who lost the last two finals. They lost 19-21, 16-21 to Kevin-Marcus at last week’s Indonesia Open final at the Istora Bung Karno Stadium in Senayan, Jakarta.
"It is certainly good to have an all-Indonesian men’s doubles final twice in a row like this. Hopefully, it can motivate others," said Hendra, who has reached six tournament finals with Ahsan this year and won two – the All England and the New Zealand Open.
AFP/CHARLY TRIBALLEAU
Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (left) and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon of Indonesia gesture during their men\'s doubles final match against compatriots Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan at the Japan Open badminton tournament, a test event held ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, in Tokyo on July 28, 2019.
Kevin is also proud of Indonesia’s dominance in the last two men\'s doubles finals. This indicates that Indonesian men’s doubles teams are equally powerful.
National men\'s doubles coach Herry Iman Pierngadi said this indicated a strong chance for Indonesia to win a men’s doubles medal at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.
However, this success also showed a gap with other players. The national team had four men’s doubles teams, but the other two teams have not attained the level of Kevin-Marcus and Hendra-Ahsan’s achievements.
Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto, both 23 and about the same age as Kevin, has shown declining performance since April, although the pair is expected to qualify for Tokyo 2020.
They were eliminated in the second round of the Asian Championship, in the first round of the Australian Open, in the quarterfinals of the Indonesia Open and in the second round of the Japan Open during the Tokyo 2020 qualification period from 29 April 2019 to 26 April 2020. Herry said that their motivation needed a boost.
Indonesian badminton has claimed titles only in the men\'s doubles in the top BWF tournaments this year, the Super 1000 and Super 750. Hendra-Ahsan won the All England (Super 1000) while Kevin-Marcus took the titles in Indonesia (Super 1000) and in Japan (Super 750).
The four other teams claimed victory in the lower-ranking tournaments, the Super 500, Super 300 and Super 100. At the higher levels, Indonesian players lost to China, Japan, South Korea and Taiwan in the men’s and women’s singles, the women\'s doubles and the mixed doubles.
At Tokyo, mixed doubles pair Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva Oktavianti had their fourth chance this year to win a title. However, they were still unable to compete with Wang Yilyu-Huang Dongping (China), who had also defeated them in the India Open and the Australia Open finals, defeating Praveen-Melati 17-21, 16-21.
Praveen\'s enthusiasm to avenge the pair’s two losses to Wang-Huang was not matched with an appropriate strategy to defeat their Chinese opponents.
"Our play must mature, as should our individual abilities. When the first game is lost, the enthusiasm must not diminish. More belief in oneself is also needed on entering the court," said Praveen.
AFP / CHARLY TRIBALLEAU
Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (left) and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon of Indonesia in action during their men\'s doubles final match against compatriots Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan at the Japan Open badminton tournament, a test event held ahead of the Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games, in Tokyo on July 28, 2019.
Men\'s singles player Jonatan "Jojo" Christie also failed to take advantage of his first chance in the Super 750 final, and still had difficulty against the tenacity of the host country’s Kento Momota, losing 16-21, 13-21 to the world No. 1. Japan also won the women\'s singles title when Akane Yamaguchi defeated her senior, Nozomi Okuhara, 21-13, 21-15. (YES)
