Praveen Jordan's Defeat - Melati Daeva Oktavianti Regrets Indonesia's Mixed Doubles Coach

JAKARTA – The pair Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti in the semifinals of the Denmark Open 2021 failed to win the third game to ensure victory and advance to the final. The defeat was regretted by Indonesian mixed doubles coach Nova Widianto.

Nova said that the defeat of the Praveen Jordan / Melati Daeva Oktavianti pair was a bitter pill that was suffocating, because both players almost won the third game to ensure victory and advance to the final.

Faced with the Thai pair Dechapol Puvaranukroh/Sapsiree Taerattanachai at Odense Sports Park, Denmark, Praveen/Melati won the first game, but released the second and third games to give up 21-16, 17-21, 20-22 within 65 minutes.

"It's a bit of a pain to lose, not hockey. But in terms of playing, they are carried away by the pattern of the opponent's game that plays long backwards," Nova said in a press release from PBSI in Jakarta, Saturday, October 23.

Nova admitted that Praveen's game, which is good at throwing deadly hits, was also less effective because several times it was too wide or caught in the net.

He also regretted that Praveen/Melati's game did not come out in the second and third games, even though the BWF world number four pair should have been able to steal points by playing in front of the net.

"Ucok (Praveen's nickname) also did not dare to serve empty because he was afraid of being wronged by the referee," said Nova.

Praveen also admitted that he and Melati were carried away by the pattern of the opponent's game in the second and third games.

After trailing 8-11 in the decisive game, Praveen / Melati continued to try to catch up until they finally equalized at a critical number 20-20.

Unfortunately, the momentum to get back ahead was released after a service error from Praveen and Melati's careless observation from Sapsiree just entered the field of play, making them have to lose 20-22 to Dechapol/Sapsiree.

"In the third game we started losing. Scores are always far behind. At 18-20, we can catch up and equalize, 20-20. Unfortunately, at a crucial point, I made a service error regarding the net. Meanwhile, Meli's observations also failed," said Praveen.