Kuala Lumpur: In order to cope with the hectic BWF schedule in 2021, as there will be the Tokyo Olympics, World Championships, Thomas and Uber Cup Finals, and the Sudirman Cup, the Indonesian Badminton Association’s (PBSI) high-performance director, Susi Susanti said that World No. 1 men’s pair, Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo will only focus on important tournaments next year.
Susanti pointed out that the COVID-19 outbreak has caused the Badminton World Federation (BWF) to postpone some important tournaments to 2021, and since Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo have confirmed qualification for the Tokyo Olympics, they should be more selective of which tournament they’ll play.
“Gideon and Sukamuljo are almost certain to qualify for the Olympics, we will definitely only register them in important tournaments, such as the All England, Indonesian Open, Sudirman Cup, Olympic Games, and Thomas Cup,” said Susanti.
“Of course, selective participation is beneficial to them because not all competitions are required. It’s different from Hafiz / Gloria (mixed doubles) as they still need points to make the Olympics so they would have to secure their position by participating in many tournaments,” added Susi Susanti.
“With the COVID-19 situation in 2020, it’s understandable that many competitions need to be postponed to 2021, but PBSI will register players for tournaments based on the player’s goals and KPIs,” explained Susanti.
Even though PBSI has withdrawn from the 2020 Thomas and Uber Finals and the 2020 Denmark Open, it said that it’s possible that Indonesia will send Indonesian players to three 2020 Asian legs of the Badminton World Federation (BWF) World Tour, comprising two Opens and one season-ending Finals, in November in Thailand, if these events materialized.
Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo are focusing on important tournaments in 2021.
