All England 2023: The Status Of The Defending Champion Is Not A Burden, Bagas/Fikri Successfully Passing The First Test

The pair Bagas Maulana/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri passed the first obstacle at the All England 2023 event. (Photo: Twitter/@INABadminton)

JAKARTA - Indonesian men's doubles, Bagas Maulana/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, managed to advance to the second round of the 2023 All England badminton championship.

The pair, who are defending champions, qualified after defeating South Korean representatives, Kim Gi-jung/Kim Sa-rang, three games 21-15, 13-21, 21-16 at Utilita Arena Birmingham, England, Tuesday, March 14, 2023.

"In the first game we played quite well but in the second game we lost focus and the opponent also changed the pattern of play," Bagas said after the match in a statement received.

After playing well in the first game, Bagas/Fikri even made a lot of mistakes in the second game. Consequently, they must also be punished by determining the match until the third game.

"In the second game, the opponent had anticipated our game and then they changed the pattern of the game. We were actually told when the interval was told by the coach that the opponent turned the game into his own fault, he had to be followed," said Fikri.

In the third game Bagas/Fikri also started poorly. They were 0-3 behind before slowly being able to rise to maintain hope of defending their title in this most prestigious event.

"In the third game we tried to fight again, changed the pattern of the game also to balance them. We are also calmer and confident in the same blow to ourselves," said Bagas.

After the match Bagas/Fikri also admitted that they did not want to be burdened because they were the defending champions. They emphasized that they wanted to only focus on one game after one game.

"Those who have passed let it pass, we just focus one by one. We don't have to rush to think about tomorrow, we just live today first," said Fikri.

In the round of 16, Bagas/Fikri will face the winner between Malaysian representatives Ong Yew Sin/Teo Ee Yi vs Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin from Chinese Taipei. Their potential opponent has not competed when this news was published.