Praveen/Melati's Positive Side After Failing To Win First Title In 2023

The pair Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti (right). (Photo: Twitter/@PBSI)

JAKARTA - Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti's pair failed to win their first title in 2023. Even though the opportunity was in sight.

Praveen/Melati qualified for the Spain Masters 2023 final but lost to the Danish mixed doubles Christiansen/Alexandra Blajuje in two straight games 20-22, 18-21.

Despite losing, the pair who took part in the PB Djarum club tried to see the positive side of the defeat. They are still grateful to be back to perform optimally after being absent for more than six months because Praveen was injured.

"In terms of results, it is not satisfactory. But in terms of appearance as a whole, the improvement has been very good. Unfortunately in the final match, I have many doubts," Praveen said on PB Djarum's official website.

Praveen said that the opportunity to win the first game was actually wide open because they continued to lead the points from start to touch the game points 20-18. But unexpectedly, Mathias/Alexandra managed to win four points in a row. Praveen/Melati finally lost 20-22.

Entering the second game, the Danish pair appeared more confident. They returned to lead the points until they finally won 21-18.Praveen/Melati had tried to steal the advantage with 15-14 and 16-15 in the game. Unfortunately, both of them actually made a lot of mistakes on their own at critical points.

Mixed doubles coach PB Djarum Wifqi Windarto also commented on Praveen/Melati's performance. According to Wifqi, his team's performance was quite good, but there were still many doubts in making decisions in the field.

"The performance of the two of them is good. But in the first game, the problem was in Jordan who had a lot of doubts behind at the end of the first game. So he made a lot of mistakes himself," said Wifqi.

"What needs to be improved for Jordan, the back ball must be added and he must also reduce doubt on the pitch," he continued.

As for Melati, Wifqi assessed that in the second game there were also many doubts. "He became afraid to block in the field," he added.

The evaluation from the 2023 Spain Masters became a record for Wifqi and his team to improve Praveen/Melati's performance in the next tournament.

The two are scheduled to return to play at the 2023 Badminton Asia Championships, which took place on April 25-30 in Dubai, United Arab Emirates.