Still Working On Praveen/Melati's Performance Ahead Of IBF 2021, Coach Nova: Their Communication Is Not As Fluid As Usually

Mixed doubles coach Nova widianto highlighted the communication barrier between Praveen Jordan and Melati Daeva Oktavianti (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The mixed doubles performance of Indonesia Praveen Jordan / Melati Daeva Oktavianti, which was not optimal when appearing on the European tour, became the spotlight of coach Nova Widianto who assessed that there was a bad communication factor between the two.

Nova saw that the communication between Praveen and Melati was not as good as usual so that it affected their performance, especially in the final of the German Hylo Open which ended as runners-up.

"I saw yesterday that their communication in Europe was a bit lacking, but actually they can perform optimally (in Bali) if they don't have to think about it. Their communication is not as fluid as usual, but the important thing is to focus on yourself, I don't think it's a problem", Nova said, launching Antara, Sunday.

Ahead of the start of the 2021 Indonesia Badminton Festival (IBF) agenda on Tuesday, Nova is still convincing the two players to be solid again and improve their game in the home tournament.

He suspects that the condition experienced by the world number five pair is influenced by boredom due to the length of the European tournament which has lasted up to 1.5 months.

As a coach, Nova tries to convince Praveen and Melati that communication is an important factor in determining the outcome of the match.

"If you look at the previous results, the titles they scored occurred when the communication was good. That's what we kept reminding them and asked them to try to improve communication", Nova said.

Meanwhile, Melati, who was met after the training session, admitted that she did not experience any problems on the field with her colleagues and remained united ahead of the tournament.

Melati said that her communication with Praveen was fine and she was still practicing as usual ahead of the 2021 Indonesia Masters which started next week.

"Personally, I don't have a problem with Jordan, here we are still practicing and communicating well", Melati said when confirmed.