JAKARTA - Shesar Hiren Rhustavito is ready to face Viktor Axelsen. He is optimistic that he can beat the first seed from Denmark.
Shesar and Axelsen will face each other at the Indonesia Masters 2022 which will be held from 7-12 June at the Istora Senayan Stadium, Jakarta. On paper the statistics sided with the Danish representative.
So far the two badminton players have faced each other twice. Axelsen always came out victorious.
"It won't be easy [meeting Axelsen]. I have lost twice. However, in this meeting I will do my best to beat him," said Shesar at a press conference on Monday, June 6, 2022.
Shesar suffered defeat for the first time at the hands of Axelsen when they met at the Indonesia Masters 2020. At that time, he gave up in a match in two sets.
The next defeat was felt by the 24th-ranked badminton player when he faced the Tokyo 2020 Olympic gold medalist at the 2021 Swiss Open. Again, Shesar lost in straight sets.
The two defeats motivated Shesar to break the dominance of his opponent. He also admitted that he had made sufficient preparations to be able to realize his wish.
"If the preparation so far has been okay, it's good. We'll see later on the field. From mental readiness and strategy it's okay," said the 28-year-old athlete from Sukoharjo.
The preparations made by Shesar include testing the field at Istora which has never been used for a badminton championship since the 2020 Indonesia Masters.
Shesar said, however, there were no significant changes after Istora had been absent for two years from holding the tournament. For that he hopes the field conditions can be friendly at the time of the match later.
"In my opinion, there is no difference. From the field, the wind and light conditions are no different. It feels the same as before the pandemic," he said.
Shesar was one of four Indonesian representatives in the men's singles draw. The other three representatives are Jonatan Christie, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, and Tommy Sugiarto.
Indonesia is also likely to still be able to add representatives in the main draw. The reason is, there is Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo who has to fight from the qualifying round.
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