Bali: Indonesia’s World No. 2 men’s doubles pair – Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan a.k.a “the Daddies”, was defeated by last week’s Indonesia Masters champions, Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi in the 2021 Indonesia Open first round on Wednesday.
After dropping the first game 21-23, “the Daddies” were trying to be more pro-active, and Setiawan was seen launching a lot of smashing to claim the second game 21-15. However, when “the Daddies” were ahead 14-10 in the decider, Ahsan injured his back and had to call for a medical timeout. The Indonesian pair ended up losing the third-game 15-21.
“It’s more or less affected our performance, yes, because Ahsan couldn’t jump. It was difficult for us to kill the opponent,” said Setiawan after the match.
Setiawan, who tried to cover the court for his partner, was also not optimal because Hoki/Kobayashi’s smashes and drop shots were too quick for Setiawan.
“Even though we lost again today, but our game was better today as we have found the right strategy,” explained Setiawan.
“The last time we met before the Indonesia Masters was two years ago. Now they have a better defense, and hard to beat,” added Setiawan.
After Wednesday’s loss, the Daddies immediately shifted their focus to the 2021 World Championships which will take place in Huelva, Spain, from Nov 29, 2021, to Dec 5, 2021.
In men’s singles, the Tokyo Olympics gold medalist, Viktor Axelsen of Denmark who lost to HS Prannoy in the 2021 Indonesia Masters second round last week, seemed to regain his dominance on the court, seeing off Koki Watanabe of Japan 21-14, 21-14 on Wednesday.
Axelsen will take on Kidambi Srikanth of India in the second round.
Meanwhile, World No. 70 Christo Popov of France pulled off a huge upset in the first round by beating World No. 5 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia 21-17, 21-18 to set up a second-round encounter with Sai B. Praneeth of India.
Indonesia’s other men’s singles player – Jonatan Christie produced a brilliant performance to beat Daren Liew of Malaysia 21-14, 21-15.
