Indonesia reached the quarterfinals of the 2018 Thomas Cup after defeating host Thailand 4-1 on Tuesday night.
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Indonesia reached the quarterfinals of the 2018 Thomas Cup after defeating host Thailand 4-1 on Tuesday night.
Indonesia opened the evening with Anthony Sinisuka Ginting setting a positive tone for the team with a win against Khosit Phetpradab 21-8 and 21-14 in the singles category.
Anthony, who is better known as Ginting, said he didn’t feel pressure at all. “[My coach] said the pressure was actually on Khosit because he played before the home crowd.”
An unexpected result occurred in the second match as world number one pair Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon were stunned by Kittisak Namdash and Nipitphon Phuangphuapet 21-16, 13-21 and 21-12.
Marcus, who seemed emotional after the match, blamed the referee for calling faults on his serves numerous times.
“[The referee] considered [most of] my serves faults […]. So basically only [Kevin] served and it was half of our power,” he added.
The bad luck seemed to end with Kevin and Marcus as Ihsan Maulana Putra pushed himself when playing against Kantaphon Wangcharoen to rebuild the team’s spirit.
Ihsan won the battle 16-21, 21-8 and 24-22 in 1 hour and 22 minutes.
In the deciding fourth match, pair Fajar Alfian and M. Rian Ardianto showed off their skills by beating Tinn Isriyanet and Dechapol Puavaranukroh 21-10 and 21-18 to secure the quarterfinal spot for Indonesia.
In the last match, Firman Abdul Kholik added another win for the country by defeating Pannawit Thongnuam 21-19 and 21-14.
Indonesia will face South Korea in the last group match to decide the Group B leader on Wednesday.
The group leader will go up against the runner-up of another group in Thursday’s quarterfinals.
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