Kumamoto Japan Masters 2024: Gregoria Still Alert
JAKARTA Gregoria Mariska Tunjung is still extra vigilant about her injury problems when she won the first match at the 2024 Japanese Kumamoto Masters.
The fifth seed qualified for the second round of the tournament after stopping the Japanese women's singles, Tomoka Miyazaki, in two straight games 21-15 and 21-12 on Wednesday, November 13, 2024, afternoon WIB.
This is the first appearance of the 2017 junior world champion after suffering a waist injury in the semifinals of the Denmark Open 2024 in October.
"Honestly, there are still a few memories with the injuries I experienced in the last tournament. So, there were some movements that were still careful," said Gregoria in the statement.
This is the second year that the Kumamoto Japan Masters has been held. Gregoria was also present as the defending champion of the BWF Super 500 level competition.
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Gregoria last year appeared as the only Indonesian representative to win the Kumamoto Japan Masters. At that time, this badminton player from Wonogiri stopped China's representative, Chen Yufei.
"I don't want to be burdened with the status of defending champions. Here it starts from zero again. There is no excessive pressure. I just want to prepare everything as well as possible," said Gregoria.
Gregoria is one of three Indonesian women's singles who played in this event. The other two names are Putri Kusuma Wardani and Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi.
However, Komang had already fallen this morning. The badminton player from Bali returned home after losing to the Danish women's singles, Mia Blichfeldt.