Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Martin

Japanese men’s doubles Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi, stopped in the semifinals Indonesia Masters 2023. They acknowledge the host, Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Martin, play nice.

Appearing at Istora Gelora Bung Karno (GBK), Senayan, Saturday (28/1/2023), Hoki/Kobayashi actually performed well by beating Leo/Daniel in the first game.

However, in the next two games, they did not expect the change in strategy made by Leo/Daniel. As a result, both of them had to fail in the next two games.

The mainstay of the Men’s Doubles from the Land of the Rising Sun lost to The Babies with a score of 21-18, 17-21, 3-21 in 64 minutes.

“We lost our enthusiasm from today’s opponents. In the third game Leo/Daniel’s confidence started to rise and that hit our game. We couldn’t apply good defense either,” said Hoki.

Kobayashi confirmed this. According to him, the opponent’s game and focus were very good from the beginning to the end of the match. Meanwhile, he and Hoki, in fact, lost their focus, especially at important points.

“They are excellent young players and can keep their focus until the end,” he said.

Hoki/Kobayashi at the same time commented on the third game which seemed to be released because there was a situation that was not in their favor.

At that time, the shuttlecock that should have produced points, was declared a fault by the referee. Because the shuttlecock that was hit by Daniel had not yet crossed the net, but Kobayashi had already hit it.

“In the third, we felt that we were not at fault. But that is the right of the referee, right? If the referee says it is a fault, that’s it,” said Hoki.

On the other hand, according to Kobayashi, the opponent rotates positions on the field.

“In our opinion, in the third game the opponent changed Daniel’s game at the front and Leo at the back. We felt that our game only accepted defense,” said Kobayashi.

“Meanwhile, the attacks from Leo/Daniel are getting better and better. And we can’t play loops but can only receive attacks. We don’t know when an attack like that will happen, so it’s difficult to anticipate and it ends up being a point for them,” he added.

(mcy/aff)