TheJakartaPost
Please Update your browser
Your browser is out of date, and may not be compatible with our website. A list of the most popular web browsers can be found below.
Just click on the icons to get to the download page.
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search results
Popular Reads
Top Results
No results found. Please check your search term and try again
Can't find what you're looking for?
View all search resultsPressure on for shuttlers as Olympic qualifiers near end
Injured world number one Kento Momota of Japan, Dane Anders Antonsen and Indonesian Anthony Sinisuka Ginting are the top threats in men’s singles badminton.
Change text size
Gift Premium Articles
to Anyone
Share the best of The Jakarta Post with friends, family, or colleagues. As a subscriber, you can gift 3 to 5 articles each month that anyone can read—no subscription needed!
Japan's Kento Momota eyes a return against Denmark's Viktor Axelsen during their men's singles final match at the Malaysia Open badminton tournament in Kuala Lumpur on Jan. 12, 2020. (AFP/Mohd Rasfan)
W
ith the 2020 Tokyo Olympics just around the corner, the race for spots at the Summer Games has become more intense with few badminton tournaments left to collect much-needed points.
On the way to the finish line of the Olympic qualification period, which will end in April after the European and Asian championships, players must not only battle each other but also themselves.
Some have managed to overcome the psychological pressure, while others have stumbled.
Taiwanese men's singles player Chou Thien Chen is well aware of the ramped-up pressure with qualification matchups featuring top threats from across the world, including world number one Kento Momota of Japan, Anders Antonsen of Denmark and Anthony Sinisuka Ginting of Indonesia. Kento, who was injured in a vehicle accident in Kuala Lumpur just hours after winning the Malaysia Masters, will not compete in this week’s Daihatsu Indonesia Masters.
Despite the bevy of top talents, Chou refused to focus on the pressure, preferring instead to improve his game by managing his emotions amid heated competition.
“I take this kind of pressure as an opportunity to learn. The more pressure I receive, the more upbeat I feel about tackling it. I just want to focus on [earning] victories and don’t want to think too much about the pressure,” he said.
Competing at the Indonesia Masters this week at Istora Senayan Stadium in Jakarta, Chou aims to repeat his success from last year when he won the Indonesia Open title at the same venue.
