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‘Minions’ beat ‘Daddies’ to defend Indonesia Open title
Throughout the 2019 Blibli Indonesia Open, veteran duo Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan, dubbed the “Daddies” by their fans, escaped scare after scare, drawing on their vast experience to handle high-pressure moments
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span>Throughout the 2019 Blibli Indonesia Open, veteran duo Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan, dubbed the “Daddies” by their fans, escaped scare after scare, drawing on their vast experience to handle high-pressure moments.
However, they appeared to have run out of ammo when they came up against their highly skilled juniors Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Marcus Fernaldi Gideon, who proved too fast and too strong in Sunday’s men’s doubles final. Kevin and Marcus, popularly known as the “Minions”, won the generational battle in straight games 21-19, 21-16.
The 2019 champions Kevin and Marcus said they had anticipated their opponents’ strategy, with the world number one pair saying that winning the first game was the key to defending their title.
“In the first game, we were actually under quite a bit of pressure and it wasn’t easy to win a single point,” Kevin said.
Kevin said he had planned to play head-to-head against Hendra at the net. His senior is known for his world-class abilities at the net.
Ahsan praised the Minion’s prowess on the court, saying “We have to admit that Kevin and Marcus are still above us. They are faster than us and we were overwhelmed by their speed.”
Despite Sunday’s result, the veterans were still proud of their accomplishment, as they had exceeded their own expectations. Hendra said they had initially targeted to reach the semifinals.
The 2019 Indonesia Open title is Kevin and Marcus’s third this year after winning both the Malaysia Masters and Indonesia Masters in January.
After January’s triumphs, the pair’s title drought throughout the year had seen them face criticism for not reaching the level of performance they had shown in the previous two seasons.
Meanwhile, Japan enjoyed plenty of success at the 2019 Indonesia Open, taking out the women’s singles and women’s doubles titles.
The tournament’s second seeded women’s doubles pair Yuki Fukushima and Sayaka Hirota won Japan’s first title of the day, overpowering compatriots Ayaka Takahashi and Misaki Matsutomo 21-16, 21-18.
In the women’s singles, energetic Akane Yamaguchi defeated PV Sindhu of India 21-15, 21-16 to claim the crown.
Sindu entered the match with the wood over Yamaguchi, leading their head-to-head matchups 14 to 10. However, with the roaring crowd at the Istora Stadium chanting her name, Yamaguchi performed when it mattered most, taking out her first Indonesia Open title.
“I feel like my performances were improving from day to day throughout the tournament and peaked in the final. But I feel there’s still room for improvement,” Yamaguchi said.
Team China came home with one title after the all-Chinese mixed doubles final saw world number ones Zheng Siwei and Huang Yaqiong defeat Wang Yilyu and Huang Dongping 21-13, 21-18.
The most thrilling final of the tournament came in the men’s singles, with Chou Tien Chen of Taiwan outlasting Denmark’s Anders Antonsen to win in three games 21-18, 24-26, 21-15.
