Gregoria Cannot Overcome First Seed Thailand Open II

Gregoria Mariska Tunjung (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - The Indonesian women's singles player, Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, apparently still has not been able to surpass the strength of Taiwan's first-seeded badminton player Tai Tzu Ying in the Toyota Thailand Open 2021 (Thailand Open II).

In the second half which took place Thursday at Impact Arena, Bangkok, Gregoria lost to Ying, who is also the world's number one, in two games with a score of 20-22, 16-21.

According to Antara, Gregoria's appearance was actually not too bad. Even though it ended in defeat, he was able to put up a fight that was quite difficult for Ying. Unfortunately, Gregoria's game was still less stable.

In the first game, Ying continued to lead the scoring. However, Gregoria stuck tight with only 1 point difference to a 12-12 draw. The Indonesian representative then secured the 13th point, but again drew 14-14.

The two players are still hotly chasing it until the score is 20-20. At that time, Gregoria was struggling to face Ying's attacks so as not to fall behind. However, Ying was more alert in securing the final points. Gregoria missed and lost early 20-22.

The fierce battle between the two badminton players continued in the second game. Both Ying and Gregoria played more aggressively than the previous games. Ying took the lead early in the game, but then things turned around.

After standing 4-4, the Wonogiri-born woman then stole 4 points without reply. Score back to a draw 8-8 and so they take turns leading the game.

Gregoria's appearance seemed to start to decline after 16-16 points. His strokes were no longer accurate and he made many mistakes himself. Unable to catch up anymore, Gregoria finally had to be willing to lose a final 16-21.

From their six previous meetings, the 21-year-old athlete who graduated from Bandung's Mutiara Cardinal badminton club has never won once over Ying.

“From the results of the match, although I can quite match my opponent (Tai Tzu Ying), I still have a lot to evaluate. Especially at critical points. On the one hand, Praise God I feel quite satisfied, but there are many things that need to be improved in the future, "said Gregoria.

Apart from Gregoria, Indonesia also lost two men's singles, namely Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and Shesar Hiren Rhustavito. Thus, no representatives of the Red and White team in the singles sector, both men and women, will appear in the quarter-finals of the Toyota Thailand Open on Friday.