The Indonesian badminton team got off to a good start at the BWF World Tour Finals when six of the seven representatives won. However, they must remain vigilant.
By
YULIA SAPTHIANI
·4 minutes read
HUMAS PP PBSI
Apriyani Rahayu/Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti started their appearance in the BWF World Tour Final badminton tournament with a victory in Group B. At the Nimibutr Arena, Bangkok, Thailand, Wednesday (7/12/2022). They beat Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan (Malaysia), 23-21, 21-19.
BANGKOK, RABU — Six out of seven Indonesian representatives won, including a surprise from Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, who made a good start for the Indonesian badminton squad in the BWF World Tour Finals. However, one victory will mean nothing if Gregoria and friends are complacent in the next matches.
On the first day of the tournament at the Nimibutr Arena, Bangkok, on Wednesday (7/12/2022), Indonesia’s Gregoria, Apriyani Rahayu/Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto, Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari and Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan were the victors. Only Jonatan Christie was defeated when he competed with Anthony in the men's singles Group B match.
Gregoria, the only debutant in Group A, surprised us. She defeated the 2019 BWF Final champion and 2020 Tokyo Olympic gold medalist, Chen Yufei (China), 21-9, 14-21, 21-16.
This positive result is one of the effects of the change in mindset shown by Gregoria in the last six months. If previously she often lost before competing when she met the world's top players, this time Gregoria saw this challenge as motivation to show her abilities.
This positive attitude was shown on the field by remaining calm in the third game. She also expressed her opinion well when she was interviewed by BWF in the mixed zone. “I do not want to consider this result something extraordinary. There are still tough matches against An Se-young and [Akane] Yamaguchi," she said.
An Se-young and Yamaguchi are the other two opponents to face on Thursday and Friday. Like Chen, they are former champions. An (South Korea) was the champion in the 2021 BWF Finals, while Yamaguchi (Japan) was the champion in the 2017 BWF Finals and the world champion in 2021-2022.
In round-robin format competition, victory in the first match will not mean anything if the players are careless in the next matches. The BWF final uses this format in the preliminary phase with eight representatives divided into two groups for each number. They must occupy the top-two positions in each group to qualify for the semifinals.
HUMAS PP PBSI
Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto (right) trains at the Nimibutr Arena, Bangkok, Thailand, Monday (5/12/2022). In their debut at the BWF World Tour Finals, they were placed as the first seed.
The challenge is growing because the championship participants are badminton players with the best achievements in 2022, including world champions. Apriyani/Fadia will meet two Chinese pairs after defeating Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan (Malaysia) 23-21, 21-19 in Group B.
The Indonesian pair, ranked 14th in the world, will face All England finalists, Zhang Shuxian/Zheng Yu, on Thursday, and then Chen Qingchen/Jia Yifan on Friday. Chen/Jia are the 2019 BWF Final champions as well as the 2017, 2021 and 2022 world champions.
Anthony also has to watch out for the other two players in Group B after beating Jonathan 6-21, 21-10, 21-9. Anthony won 8-6 out of 14 meetings with Chou Tien Chen (Taiwan) who will be his opponent on Thursday. However, victory at the last meeting, in the Hylo Open final, a month ago, was not easy to come by. Anthony won 18-21, 21-11, 22-24.
Meanwhile, with Loh Kean Yew (Singapore), Anthony shared two wins. Loh dominated the match against Chou and won 21-15, 21-17.
“The next match will definitely not be easy even though I have competed against Chou and Loh many times. I will try to focus on preparing myself while preparing a strategy to fight them," said Anthony.
Apart from Gregoria and Apriyani/Fadia, Fajar/Rian and Rinov/Pitha, who were also debutants in this tournament, emerged victorious. Fajar/Rian won against Choi Sol-gyu/Kim Won-ho (South Korea), 23-21, 21-17, in Group A. Rinov/Pitha defeated Goh Soon Huat/Shevon Jemie Lai, 21-12, 21-15 after incessantly losing to the Malaysian pair in the previous three meetings. Meanwhile, Hendra/Ahsan won against Aaron Chia/Soh Wooi Yik, 21-12, 21-15.
