The Minions won their gold by beating their Indian opponents, the pair of Satwisairaj Rankireddy and Chirag Shetty, in two straight games 21-18 and 21-16 in the final rounds held at the Pierre de Cubertain stadium in Paris.

“Totally grateful, but it’s too early to do a victory lap as we are still facing several more tournaments ahead of us,” Marcus said as quoted by Antara news service.

Kevin acknowledged that they had faced tough opponents, who displayed the same agility as them during the matches.

“They are both very fast and strong. Therefore, we need to double them in order to secure the title,” he said.

This was the Minions’ seventh medal this year.

Previously the mixed doubles’ of Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti had defeated the pair Zheng Si Wei and Huang Yo Qiong of China by following a rigorous path after losing the first game 18-21. The Praveen and Melati pair had to walk the extra mile as their Chinese opponents would not let them win easily.

The second game was theirs with a score of 21-16 and the third ended in a dramatic fashion as the Indonesian pair closed the match with a tight result of 22-20.

“The key points are never losing trust and maintaining good communication with your partner. Keep supporting each other and never let your opponent win the match,” Melati said.

“This time victory has become the perfect energy booster for us to face future tournaments,” she added.

Both the Minions and Praveen and Melati secured golds from the previous 2019 Denmark Open.

Walking a different emotional path was men’s single shuttler Jonatan Christie, who had to bow down to his arch opponent Chen Long of China in the final round with scores of 19-21 and 12-21. This was their eighth encounter and none were won by Jonatan.

“There was a light at the end of the tunnel actually. I think that I still have a window to win, but I admit I become less patient just when I lead the points,” he admitted.

Overall, he said, his performance this year has been showing progress. He said last year he ended his Paris Open journey in the quarterfinals and right now he gained the chance of reaching the final round by defeating world elite shuttler Victor Axelsen of Denmark in the semis with scores of 7-21, 22-20 and 21-19.

His first game’s defeat had propelled him to win the second game even though it took a struggle. In the final game, Jonatan managed to secure victory after falling behind seven points when the Dane led with 19-12. Jonatan said he had been patiently chasing points and sealed the third game with a score of 21-19 in his favor.

“Overall, I am very grateful for my achievement today,” he said.

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