Indonesia's Single Badminton Player Is Expected To Maintain Optimism

JAKARTA - Indonesian men's singles badminton is expected to maintain optimism in the 2020 Tokyo Olympics. It is hoped that Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and Jonatan Christie can maintain focus, especially when completing the group elimination round.

On Wednesday, July 28 at Musashino Sport Plaza, Jonathan will face Loh Kian Yew (Singapore) in the last match of Group G. Of the three meetings, Jonathan always wins. In the previous match, Jojo, as he is called, beat Mahmoud Aram 21-8, 21-14. On paper, the player who is ranked 7th in the world can overcome the Syrian players.

Alan Budikusuma, the men's singles gold medalist at the 1992 Barcelona Olympics, is confident that Indonesia will qualify for the group.

"But, Jojo needs to adapt faster in order to overcome the conditions of the fight in order to continue his work," said Alan quoted from a written statement, Tuesday, July 27.

Jojo, who is now ranked 7th in the world, already has good confidence against any player. He has beaten top players, including Kento Momota who became the mainstay of host Japan, and Victor Axelsen (Denmark).

“It should be a separate asset, especially in an event as big as the Olympics. That optimism must be maintained, but with concentration and calm,” said Alan, who helped bring Indonesia to win the 1996 Hong Kong Thomas Cup.

Likewise Anthony, said Alan, is expected to quickly read the situation of the fight. With good preparation. In the first match of Group J, he bagged a victory over Gergely Krausz (Hungary) 21-13, 21-8. This time he will work with Sergey Sirant (ranked 77 in the world) who is an IOC refugee team.

In this match, it is hoped that Anthony's gait will be smooth so that he will enter the final phase. "Sometimes there are unexpected situations, in this condition Anthony must keep his emotions and be more patient," said the men's singles gold winner at the 1993 world championships in New Delhi, India.

Alan reminded Indonesian players not to be trapped in a burden because badminton is pegged as a gold medal mine. But they still concentrate on the strategies and techniques that have been prepared with the coach.

Non-technically, players must really understand the background of all the prepared game plans. This can be used to foster calm and mentality so as to increase readiness when entering the arena.

Alan said that players with attacking types can sometimes be careless precisely because they are too fixated on attacks and feel they are fit in their game, especially when facing lower-ranked opponents. When suddenly the fight becomes difficult, so confused yourself.

In such an unexpected situation, Alan reminded players to refocus on their own game strategy. Here the role of the coach is needed to calm his care during the score interval. “Coaches must also be observant. But, I'm sure it's part of their preparation, "concluded Alan.

On the other hand, on the same day Indonesian women's singles Gregoria Mariska Tunjung will also enter the arena. In the previous match he had bagged a victory over Thet Htar Thuzar (Myanmar) 21-11, 21-8. Now it's time to face Lianne Tan (Belgium).