Jakarta: In order to avoid a clash with the Tokyo Olympics, the 2021 world championship slated for August next year in Spain will now take place from November 29 to December 5.
The reigning men’s doubles World Champions Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan said that they wanted to focus on the Olympics first.
“Since there will be two important tournaments instead of one if the Olympics were to be held in 2020. For me, I’ll focus more on the Olympics. After all, there’s still few more months after the Olympics for us to get ready for the World Championships,” said Setiawan.
In 2019, Setiawan and Ahsan sealed their third world championship title after defeating Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi 25-23, 9-21, 21-15 in the final.
Ahsan admitted he hoped to retain the prestigious title with Setiawan, but they would need to be realistic, because it’s going to be very challenging.
“The desire to win the world title is there, but we need to be realistic,” said Ahsan.
Ahsan who will be 34 years old, while Hendra will be 37 years in 2021. Therefore, they chose to focus on one tournament at a time. Previously, they’ve won the 2013 world title in Guangzhou, China and the 2015 edition in Jakarta, Indonesia.
In 2008, Hendra Setiawan partnered Markis Kido to win the Beijing Olympic gold medal. He and Ahsan competed at the 2016 Summer Olympics as the second seeds, but the duo were eliminated in the group stage.
