Jakarta –
Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon remains the mainstay of Indonesia to win the title in Indonesia 2022 World Championship. Marcus’ condition is still being monitored.
Indonesia’s men’s doubles are known to pass four representatives. Besides the Minions, there are Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan, Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto, and Bagas Maulana/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri. Of the four, PBSI expects one title to be won in men’s doubles.
However, each of the four pairs has its own challenges. First, Hendra/Ahsan, both have stamina challenges to be able to compete with young players in the World Championship.
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However, both Hendra and Ahsan are no longer young. Hendra will be 38 years old on August 25, while Ahsan will be 34 years old on September 7.
Meanwhile for Bagas/Fikri, the consistency is still questionable. The reason is, after winning the All England 2022, the two have not even won the title again. His graph even continued to decline after becoming a semifinalist at the Korea Open. Of the 11 tournaments, the majority of them often stopped in the early rounds.
Another couple who also have their own challenges are Kevin/Marcus. As is known, Marcus recently made repairs to his ankle. His recovery also took time and had forced him temporarily sidelined from several tournaments.
He has been swinging a racket by appearing at the Indonesia Masters and Indonesia Open 2022, but his performance is not yet 100 percent. The Head of Binpres PBSI, Rionny Mainaky, even said that the treatment for Marcus was still ongoing, even though he had recovered.
The only pair that is considered to have an ever-increasing performance is Fajar/Rian. This is evidenced by the results of the tournaments they participated in after the All England.
Fajar/Rian have entered the final seven times, with three of them winning the Swiss Open, Indonesia Masters and Malaysia Masters 2022.
Even so, Rionny still believes in the performance of his athletes, especially Kevin/Marcus.
“They are still (the mainstay) because they are the masters. Like Hendra / Ahsan, with their position in the top two, of course the opponent will still take them into account. Psychologically, the opponent is still afraid. They have experience,” said Rionny when met at GOR Nanggala, Cijantung, Monday (1/8/2022).
For that, the former Japanese national team coach is still hopeful Kevin/Marcus can win the championship. “Yes, but that doesn’t mean the other three couples just help. It’s not like that,” he said.
“Even if we lose, we will still fight with all-out. If we are not enthusiastic and the opponent is good, what tomorrow (next) will be? It’s a loss. So, hopefully they can be even more solid,” hoped Rionny.
(mcy/cas)
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