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'Minions', 'Daddies' poised to enter Tokyo Olympics on top
Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo are the world's top-ranked duo in men's doubles, while Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan are right behind. If both pairs qualify for the Tokyo Olympics, it will mark the debut performance for Marcus and Kevin, and a third time for Ahsan and Hendra. Hendra won 2008 Beijing Olympics gold with his former partner, Markis Kido.
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Indonesian men's doubles pair Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (left) celebrates with Marcus Fernaldi Gideon after winning a point in a match against Li Jun Hui and Liu Yun Chen of China at the 2019 Blibli Indonesia Open badminton tournament in Jakarta on July 20, 2019. (Courtesy of/Indonesia Open)
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head of the Tokyo Summer Olympics, all eyes are on Indonesian men’s doubles pairs Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo and Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan.
Indonesian Badminton Association (PBSI) head of development and achievement Susy Susanti has high expectations for her protégés, hoping that they continue Indonesia’s tradition of winning gold in badminton at the Olympics.
Only at the 2012 London Olympics did Indonesia come home without any gold medals. The team, however, made amends at the 2016 Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil, where Liliyana Natsir and Tontowi Ahmad took home the mixed doubles crown.
Indonesia has three men’s doubles pairs in the top five of the world rankings, namely top-ranked Marcus and Kevin, nicknamed “the Minions”, second-ranked Ahsan and Hendra, nicknamed “the Daddies”, and fifth-ranked Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto.
“We don’t mean to precede the destiny, but we’re [confident] about sending [at least two men’s doubles pairs to the Tokyo Olympics],” Susy said recently.
Marcus and Kevin, who have been at the top of the world rankings for the last 121 weeks, strengthened their position by defending the Indonesia Masters title in Jakarta a week ago.
They outclassed their seniors, Ahsan and Hendra, in the final match, and in doing so also improved their head-to-head with 11 victories in 13 meetings against the veteran pair.
