Bagas / Fikri Men's Doubles Win In The First Round Of All Engand 2024

Indonesian men's doubles Bagas Maulana/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri while competing in the last 32 of the All England Open 2024 in Birmingham, England, Tuesday (12/3/2024). (Between/HO/PP PBSI)

JAKARTA - Indonesian men's doubles Bagas Maulana/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri sealed the first round victory at the All England Open 2024 tournament held at Utilita Arena, Birmingham, England, Tuesday.

Bagas/Fikri won over Scottish pair Alexander Dunn/Adam Hall two straight games, 21-18, 21-16 within 33 minutes.

Even though they have confirmed their place in the round of 16, the All England 2022 champion admits that he is still not satisfied with their performance when facing Dunn/Hall.

"Alhamdulillah, we were able to advance to the second half but in terms of our game we still felt not good," said Fikri, in a brief statement from PP PBSI as reported by Antara.

According to him, their defense is still not too solid so the opponent easily penetrates it and scores.

"Our defense is not good yet so it is very easy for the opponent to penetrate. That's what we have to fix for Thursday (14/3) later," said Fikri.

Agreeing, Bagas said that their poor defense then changed the pattern of the game to appear attacking and maintain cohesiveness in the field.

This strategy also resulted in results, especially in critical points in the second game.

"We tried to continue to attack, communication with Fikri how to hold control up front," said Bagas.

Regarding their target at the All England Open 2024, the world number nine men's doubles hopes to play well to ensure a place to perform at the 2024 Paris Olympics.

"All England has always been a special place for us and we hope this year we can get maximum results, especially since we are still chasing points towards the 2024 Paris Olympics," said Fikri.

Apart from Bagas/Fikri, there are still five other Indonesian representatives who have participated in the round of 32 of the BWF Super 1000 tournament.

There are men's singles Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, women's singles Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, women's doubles Apriyani Rahayu/Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti, and two mixed doubles pair Rehan Naufal Kusharjanto/Lisa Ayu Kusumawati and Dejan Ferdinansyah/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja.