The world number one men’s doubles pair Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon have extended their triumph over their senior counterparts, Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, in the Japan Open’s men’s doubles all-Indonesian final on Sunday with two straight sets of 21-18 and 23-21.

The Kevin/Marcus pair are the only Indonesian players to win gold as the other players, men’s single player Jonatan Christie and the mixed doubles’ pair Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti failed to secure the trophies and had to bow down to their respective opponents, world number one Kento Momota of Japan and the second seeded Wang Yi Lyu/Huang Dong Ping of China.

The Kevin/Marcus pair orchestrated themselves in an aggressive tone, forcing Ahsan/Hendra to catch up in the early result of 5-2 for Kevin/Marcus. The Ahsan/Hendra pair managed to level up with 7-7 but were left behind once again when Kevin/Marcus marched ahead with 11-8 in their favor. The rest of the first game was a tale of smashes and speed as Ahsan/Hendra tailed their juniors in a tight position in 19-18. Kevin/Marcus managed to lock the game and stole a petit victory with 21-18.

Ahsan/Hendra tried to turn the pace upside down and lead early in the second game with 5-2. The Daddies, as the pair are popularly known, also maintained their pace. The Minions, as Kevin/Marcus are popularly named, had reached 18-18 only to see the Ahsan/Hendra pair leave them behind by two points.

It has been tight for both teams, who both needed points for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, but the end Kevin and Marcus sealed victory with 23-21. This was the minions’ second victory over the Daddies as they had just defeated their seniors at the 2019 Indonesia Open last week.

So far, the minions have been able to gather three victories from the Malaysia Master, Indonesia Masters and Indonesia Open.

Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) secretary-general Achmad Budiharto praised the Kevin/Marcus pair’s victory and said it was a positive trend that should be maintained. As for other Indonesian players who did not achieve similar success, Achmad acknowledged that at this level the nontechnical part played a significant role.

He said Jonatan’s defeat, for example, was not caused by a lack of technical skill but more a lack of experience.

“At this level, they share similar technical fortes. It is often the nontechnical parts that play a pivotal role,” he told The Jakarta Post on Sunday.

He also said that Jonatan had been very eager in the early stage and displayed militancy, great endurance and self-discipline. However, he added, there was a time when Kento played him for a while and Jonatan began to lose his focus. Instead of orchestrating the rest of the match, Jonatan traded his dominance and started to sing in Kento’s rhyme.

“Improving and maintaining focus will be likely Jonatan’s task. We will work thoroughly in evaluating each athlete’s condition,” he said.

In the women’s singles category, Gregoria Mariska had to bow down to her arch opponent Tai Tzu Ying of China in the second round. Achmad acknowledged that Gregoria had shown progress since the last time she met Tai Tzu Ying.

However, he also acknowledged that Gregoria still needed to learn more tricks and strategies to face sudden change of strategy as shown by her opponent.

“With her current pace in learning and training, she will be a tough player in a year,” Achmad said.

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