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Top guns Marcus, Kevin, Tontowi, Liliyana bow out of Malaysia Open
Tumbling champions: Defending champion Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (right) of Indonesia hits a return as partner Marcus Fernaldi Gideon looks on during the Malaysia Open badminton semifinal match in the men’s doubles against He Jiting and Tan Qiang of China in Bukti Jalil on Friday
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umbling champions: Defending champion Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (right) of Indonesia hits a return as partner Marcus Fernaldi Gideon looks on during the Malaysia Open badminton semifinal match in the men’s doubles against He Jiting and Tan Qiang of China in Bukti Jalil on Friday. The Indonesians lost 17-21, 11-21. (Courtesy of PBSI)
Indonesia’s big guns Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo as well as Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir were all stunned in the 2018 Malaysia Open.
Defending champions Marcus and Kevin lost 17-21, 11-21 to He Jiting and Tan Qiang of China in Friday’s dramatic quarterfinals. The defeat was a surprise for number ones Marcus and Kevin as they often enjoyed back-to-back victories throughout 2017 and in several tournaments earlier this year.
It was the first loss for Marcus and Kevin after winning in the 2018 Thomas Cup men’s semifinals last month, despite the team’s failure to bring home the trophy. Previously, the pair made a winning hat trick in January’s Indonesia Masters and India Open as well as the All England Open in March.
The pair’s coach Aryono Miranat said the unprecedented loss was a big blow.
“We didn’t see it coming at all. Kevin and Marcus made too many unforced errors, while their opponents were very focused on the court.
“It is understandable that Kevin and Marcus got upset over this. Nevertheless, [the loss] was a valuable lesson for them to be better in the future,” said Aryono in a statement.
The Chinese pair said they did not expect to beat the Indonesians.
“They are the world number ones, while we are junior players. We never met before, so I guess they didn’t know our style,” said He.
Meanwhile, Tan said: “We really tried to defeat them, and we did, which was truly unexpected,”
From another court, hopefuls Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir were also stopped from the title hunt by Chris Adcock and Gabrielle Adcock of England.
In their 16th meet, Tontowi and Liliyana were not on top of their top game and suffered a 21-14, 21-23, 21-13 loss. The Rio Olympics gold medalists often made poor returns that benefitted their
opponents.
“We tried [to win]. When we won the second game, I thought we could nail the game, but we made blunders,” said Liliyana.
On the bright side, non-seed Tommy Sugiarto defeated third seed Shi Yuqi of China in Friday’s game to become the first Indonesian to reach the semifinals.
The world number 24 outwitted Shi 13-21, 21-13, 21-13 in 53 minutes to keep his title hunt on track.
“I was overwhelmed by Shi’s aggressive style in the first game, but I refused to surrender.”
“In the second game, I changed my tactics and it worked. When I saw that he was no longer on top of his game in the decisive game, I didn’t want to waste the opportunity,” said Tommy, the son of former national shuttler Icuk Sugianto.
