Failed In All England, Ahsan/Hendra Determined To Win The Fourth World Championship Title

The Daddies (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Indonesian men's doubles Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan have started to shift their focus to their target at the 2022 Badminton World Championships after the world number two pair only finished runners-up in the All England 2022 last weekend.

The Badminton World Championships or BWF World Championships are scheduled to be held in Tokyo, Japan, August 21-28.

The pair nicknamed The Daddies actually had the opportunity to add to their collection of titles at the World Championships which took place in Huelva, Spain, late last year before PP PBSI decided to withdraw the participation of all Indonesian athletes from the tournament.

Ahsan / Hendra are also determined to win their fourth world title this year to add to their record of titles that have been won at the 2013 2015 and 2019 World Championships.

"We are happy to be able to play in the (All England) final. Our juniors played well and deserved to win," Hendra told Badminton Europe on Tuesday, quoted by Antara.

"After this, we hope to do well in the World Championships," he continued.

The Daddies haven't tasted a championship title since the 2019 BWF World Tour Finals in Guangzhou, China. In 2021, Ahsan/Hendra also only became the runner-up of the BWF World Tour Finals 2020 in Thailand because they were defeated by representatives of Taiwan, Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin, in the final.

After that, their best achievement was only until the quarter-finals like when appearing in the French Open and Hylo Open 2021.

Ahsan/Hendra then failed to win the third All England title because they were defeated by their juniors, Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Bagas Maulana, in the top party in two games.

Bagas/Fikri's victory was unexpected because apart from being unseeded, they had never before set foot in the finals, not even in the BWF Super 300 level tournament.

The young Indonesian men's doubles pair had previously been runners-up in the 2021 Belgian International Challenge, the rest were only able to penetrate the quarter-finals like when they appeared in the 2021 Denmark Open.