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Indonesian shuttlers secure two titles at 2017 French Super Series

Solid: Indonesia's Tontowi Ahmad (right) and Liliyana Natsir (left) celebrate after they won the Badminton Yonex French Open Mixed Doubles final badminton match on Oct

Dicky Christanto (The Jakarta Post)
Jakarta
Mon, October 30, 2017

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Indonesian shuttlers secure two titles at 2017 French Super Series

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span class="inline inline-center">Solid: Indonesia's Tontowi Ahmad (right) and Liliyana Natsir (left) celebrate after they won the Badminton Yonex French Open Mixed Doubles final badminton match on Oct. 29, at the stade Coubertin in Paris.(AFP / Thomas Samson)

The Indonesian women doubles’ pair of Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu and the mixed-doubles pair of Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir finished as champions at the Yonex French Super Series Premiere 2017.

Greysia/Rahayu defeated the South Korean pair of Lee So-hee/Shin Seung-chan in two straight sets, 21-17 and 21-15. The Tontowi/Natsir pair struggled through difficult early rounds to finally defeat the number one seeded Chinese pair of Zheng Siwei and Chen Qing chen, 22-20 and 21-15.

The match was tight early for Greysia/Rahayu as their South Korean opponents Lee/Shin showed great resilience to keep pace with the Indonesian pair’s score. However, the Indonesian pair finally managed to seal the first round in their favor, 21-17.

Greysia/Rahayu had to once again overcome the massive fight and spirit of their opponents in the second round.

The Lee/Shin pair was never going to be an easy opponent as they were on top of their game following their latest win at the Denmark Super Series Premiere 2017. In her earlier statement Greysia acknowledged that their South Korean opponents would go all out in their attempt to win the tournament.

“They are tough opponents but we also have our own strategies to win,” she said before the match.

Former national shuttler Yuni Kartika praised Greysia and Rahayu’s patience and consistency in the tournament. She said the pair shifted roles and positions very naturally to deal with their opponents during the matches.

“That kind of mentality won them the game,” she told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

The Tontowi/Liliyana pair also displayed terrific determination and skill in the face of their tough Chinese opponents. The Indonesian pair fell behind early with the Chinese pair leading 9-4 in the first round. The Chinese pair fought the round out to the very end, shadowing the Indonesian pair to draw scores level at 20-20.

However, the Tontowi/Liliyana pair managed to stay cool under pressure and found a way to seal the match.

Yuni Kartika praised Tontowi and Liliyana’s mentality and their ability to go all out in every game. Yuni added that Liliyana was not fully fit coming into the match as she was still taking medication for her previous injuries.

“But she overcome the injuries to claim the title,” she said.

Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) secretary-general Achmad Budiharto praised the shuttlers’ efforts to win the two titles at the French Super Series 2017 and also the other four title winners from the USM Flypower International Challenge in Semarang where the Indonesian team only lost the women’s singles title.

“We are grateful for these results,” he said.

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