Patience/Reza, Non-Pelatnas Couples Save Indonesian Men's Doubles Face At Hong Kong Open

JAKARTA - Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Mohammad Reza Pahlevi Isfahani stepped into the final of the Hong Kong Open 2024.

They beat compatriot Leo Rolly Carnando/Bagas Maulana, two straight games 21-13 and 21-17, in the semifinals at Hong Kong Coliseum, Saturday, September 14, 2024.

The top party is their third final this year after winning the Spain Masters 2024 and Orleans Masters runners-up 2024.

Interestingly, the place in the final of the Hong Kong Open 2024 that Sabar/Reza got saved the face of Indonesian men's doubles.

In the previous consecutive edition at the Hong Kong Open, the Red-White men's doubles always managed to advance to the final.

In two consecutive editions, 2017 and 2018, Indonesian men's doubles even won through Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo.

Then, the next two editions ended in runners-up obtained by Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan (2019) and Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin (2023).

In other words, the presence of Sabar/Reza in the final of the Hong Kong Open 2024 extended Indonesia's men's doubles slick record in five consecutive editions.

However, Sabar/Reza are the first non-PBSI Cipayung men's doubles in the top Hong Kong Open party.

As is known, Sabar/Reza have resigned from the Cipayung PBSI National Training Center in early 2022.

"This means a lot to us. Being an independent player (non-PBSI Pelatnas) is not easy. So, we are grateful to be able to play consistently at high levels and continue to grow," said Sabar.

In addition, for Sabar/Reza, the final of the Hong Kong Open 2024 is their first peak party at the Super 500 BWF level.

They certainly hope to win in Hong Kong to break their title eggs at the Super 500 BWF level.

"Hopefully we can end the season by winning our first Super 500 event," said Sabar again on the BWF website.

Meanwhile, the victory over Leo/Bagas completed the revenge of Sabar/Reza. In the last meeting in the round of 16 of the Japan Open 2024, Sabar/Reza lost two straight games 18-21 and 16-21.

Reza said the defeat at the Japan Open 2024 last month had taught them a valuable lesson to beat Leo/Bagas.

"The good thing is that we learned from that defeat. We watched their opening service and prepared ourselves better this time," said Reza.

"We are more aggressive and in control in front and rear fields. The pitch is windy, so we try to attack from start to finish and fortunately it worked for us," Sabar added.

The impressive performance of Sabar/Reza cannot be separated from motivation and confidence. Moreover, they managed to beat their senior, Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan, in the first round of the Hong Kong Open 2024.

"Our confidence also grew after defeating The Daddies (Ahsan) in the opening round," said Reza.

Patience/Reza have been together since 2020. Their best result before becoming a non-Pelatnas player for PBSI Cipayung was finishing runner-up at Spain Masters 2021.

Their world ranking has also skyrocketed in the last two years, from 106 to 21st highest in his career two weeks ago.