JABAR EKSPRES – Men’s doubles Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon put in a disappointing performance in the last 16 of the Singapore Open, where they lost their mojo against Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi on Thursday.
The pair’s performance ended in an 18-21, 9-21 defeat, while recording a record of three consecutive defeats to the Japanese pair.
“Our performance was bad, not as expected. We’ve lost, what else can we do? The first game can still keep up. The second game we were already down. Already far behind. Wanting to catch up is far from the points,” said Marcus through the official PP PBSI message in Jakarta.
The defeat was a repeat of a similar failure when they met Hoki/Kobayashi in the round 16 big Malaysia Masters two weeks ago.
Marcus admitted that the fourth seed played better, highlighting the speed of attack and accompanied by tough defense.
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Kevin/Marcus also lost energy, so they could only make an advantage in one or two strokes.
Not only that, Marcus also admitted that the age factor made him unable to play as well as before. The 32-year-old badminton player can no longer keep up with the speed of his opponents and playing partners.
“Admittedly, I am very heavy with age. We keep falling behind. We also have reduced speed. With the fast shuttlecock character, we are increasingly behind and it is difficult to keep up with the opponent’s speed,” said Marcus.
Meanwhile, Kevin also assessed that his game could not keep up with Hoki/Kobayashi who were technically superior in various aspects such as speed, power, and defense.
In the first game, the Minions were still able to provide tight resistance to Hoki/Kobayashi. Only in the second game, their enthusiasm decreased because they had been pressured from the start of the game.
