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ndonesian men’s doubles badminton players Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon are still the main hopes for the country to win the 2018 BWF World Tour Finals, which kick off on Dec. 12 in Guangzhou, China.

World number ones Kevin and Marcus have been able to maintain their stellar performance throughout the year by collecting nine titles.

Coach Herry Iman Pierngadi said the pair had been undergoing intensive preparations for two weeks for the US$1.5 million tournament.

“The preparations are just the same [as for any other tournament]. For Kevin, we try to keep up his condition, carefully handling his hand muscles to prevent any recurring injury. While for Marcus, we’ve worked on his defense as we know he is often targeted by opponents, especially the Chinese pairs,” Herry said in a statement.

Despite their brilliant achievement, Kevin and Marcus have stumbled this year as they did poorly against young Chinese pair Han Chengkai and Zhou Haodong, losing two out of three meetings.

Han and Zhou will be among the Indonesian pair’s opponents in the upcoming tournament.

Herry said he had evaluated his protégés’ performance and prepared a strategy for them.

Indonesia has secured six spots in the BWF World Tour Finals. Besides Kevin and Marcus, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting in the men’s singles, as well as Greysia Polii and Apriani Rahayu in the women’s doubles will also compete in the tournament.