Bali: Despite a busy tournament schedule for Indonesia’s World No. 1 men’s pair – Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon, a.k.a “the Minions”, as they have competed in 7 international tournaments since the end of September – including Sudirman Cup, Thomas Cup Finals, Denmark Open, French Open, HYLO Open, Indonesia Masters and now, the Indonesia Open, the Minions successfully exacted revenge against Japan’s Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi whom they lost to in the Indonesia Masters final last Sunday, by beating the Japanese pair 21-14, 21-18 to win the 2021 Indonesia Open title on Sunday.
Going through two consecutive months of matches with seven tournaments since the Sudirman Cup was clearly exhausting for the Indonesian World No. 1.
“Indeed, there were a lot of non-stop matches. But the good thing was, BWF still able to run many tournaments though there are still many restrictions everywhere,” said Gideon after the match.
“We just need to be grateful because there are still tournaments and frankly this is a job that we really enjoy. Of course, we are tired, but everyone else is experiencing the same thing. We want to stay positive and just enjoy it,” added Gideon.
Meanwhile, Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo was also upbeat after winning their third consecutive Indonesia Open title on Sunday.
“We are happy to score a hat-trick at Indonesia Open. But, the most important thing is to try my best and achieve maximum results in every game,” said Sukamuljo.
In Sunday’s final, the Minions played a completely different style than last week as they were slow and couldn’t rotate fast enough in the Indonesia Masters final due to exhaustion. The Indonesians were playing with a faster tempo and were very aggressive. They started attacking the Japanese pair from the start until the end of the match. The strategy forced Hoki/Kobayashi to focus on defense and couldn’t score points through counterattacks.
“Today, they played more or less the same as last week, but we learned a lot and we have made good preparation before the match,” added Sukamuljo.
