Birmingham: The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) are hoping their top men’s doubles pair Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan could bring home the men’s doubles title at the prestigious All England championships that will kick off the main draw action on Wednesday.
“Our target for Hendra/Ahsan is to win the men’s doubles title. For other men’s doubles pairs, we are hoping they could at least defeat some seeded pairs,” said PBSI’s men’s doubles coach Herry Iman Pierngadi in Birmingham, England.
The World No. 2 and second seeded Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan will take on Denmark pair Kim Astrup/Anders Skaarup Rasmussen in their opening match on Wednesday. The Indonesian pair held a 2-0 career record against the Danish pair. In their last encounter, Ahsan/Setiawan beat Astrup/Rasmussen 21-23, 21-16, 21-12 at the 2015 Sudirman Cup
Despite winning the 2013 All England title, Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan were eliminated by China’s Zhang Nan/Fu Haifeng 16-21, 21-19, 18-21 in the 2014 edition.
Besides Setiawan/Ahsan, Indonesia also sent three other men’s pairs including Angga Pratama/Ricky Karanda Suwardi, Berry Angriawan/Rian Agung Saputra, and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo to the All England Championships that offers US$500,000 in prize money.
