Win Group D, Hendra/Ahsan To Tokyo Olympics Quarter Final

JAKARTA - The men's doubles Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan emerged as winners of Group D after packing their third win in the preliminary round of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics on Tuesday and securing their place in the quarter-finals.

The success of this world number two pair was obtained through a 53-minute rubber game, with a final score of 21-12, 19-21, 21-18 over South Korean men's doubles Choi Solgyu/Seo Seungjae.

With this victory, The Daddies doubled the score to 2-3 in the record meeting with Choi/Seo.

In the previous four meetings, The Daddies only managed to pick one victory over Choi/Seo which was won in the semifinals of the BWF World Tour Finals 2020 in Thailand in January this year, according to the official BWF website, quoted by Antara.

The game starts with a slow tempo when both partners are still looking for a game that suits the conditions of the field.

Hendra / Ahsan were recorded to have led twice in the first game with scores that were far adrift. However, the eighth ranked men's doubles from Korea was able to catch up and finally secure the opening game victory.

In the second game, it was Hendra/Ahsan's turn to increase the intensity of the attack and play a blow that was difficult for the opponent to anticipate.

In this 16-minute game, Choi/Seo also counterattacked but was less accurate, creating a mistake in Indonesia's favour.

In the decisive game, The Daddies game is somewhat more relaxed when compared to the previous game. The 2019 BWF World Tour Finals champion puts more emphasis on the defense sector considering their opponents are getting more and more insistent.

The defense built by The Daddies successfully warded off Choi/Seo's attack. Smash crosses and punches in the opponent managed to reach the defense of The Daddies.

The Daddies ensured their victory after Hendra made a kiss that Seo Seungjae couldn't hold back.

This victory led Indonesia to become two men's doubles who qualified for the quarter-finals of the men's doubles badminton at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics.

Previously, Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon also confirmed themselves as winners in Group A despite being defeated by Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin from Taiwan in the third match of the preliminary round.