Faced With Japanese Representatives, Greysia/Apriyani Must Be Satisfied To Be Runners Up For The Indonesia Open 2021

Indonesian women's doubles, Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu (Photo: Twitter @INABadminton)

JAKARTA - Indonesian women's doubles, Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu had to settle for runner-up at the Indonesia Open 2021. Their hopes were dashed after being confronted by Japanese representatives Nami Matsuyama/Chiharu Shida.

In a tough meeting at the Bali International Convention Center, Nusa Dua on Sunday, November 28, 2021, Greysia / Apriyani gave up after going through the match for 65 minutes. Although it took a long time, the match lasted only two games with 19-21 and 19-21 defeats.

At the beginning of the first game, Greysia/Apriyani had already experienced pressure and were 7-10 behind, but by fighting point by point, finally, the Indonesian representative was able to catch up and win 11-10.

But tensions occurred again when the score was tied at 17-17, where the two pairs underwent a long rally 192 times.

The rally then ended when Shida made a return but went off the field. Shida tried to do a challenge to check the ball's drop point and luckily, Greysia/Polii received a good result.

Tight competition is still going on and the score is still level until 19-19. The rallies are still going on until the points game, between Japan, which has a strong defense and representatives of Indonesia who continue to provide resistance.

Unfortunately, Greysia/Apriyani's efforts to penetrate Matsuyama/Shida's defense did not produce good results. The end of this first game belongs to Japan with a score of 19-21.

Entering the second game, Greysia/Apriyani's efforts seemed to be paying off, they could take the lead in the early interval with a score of 11-8. However, the superior position did not last long because after the interval Greysia/Apriyani reduced the tempo of the attack and shifted their energy to play rallies and high lobs.

Matsuyama/Shida continued to approach victory when the score was 17-19, but Greysia/Apriyani still tried to catch up by adding two points to 19-20. Finally, certainty came when Shida shot a dropshot from the net that Greysia/Apriyani couldn't block and ended the match with a score of 19-21 for Japan.

The victory won by Matsuyama/Shida added to their long list of wins at the Indonesia Badminton Festival (IBF) to two titles, after having also won the Indonesia Masters 2021 a week earlier.