2024 Junior World Championships: Darren/Bernadine Indonesia's Last Breath In Mixed Doubles

The Indonesian mixed doubles pair, Darren Aurelius/Bernadine Anindya Wardana, in the third round of the 2024 Junior World Championships (doc. PBSI).

JAKARTA Darren Aurelius/Bernadine Anindya Wardana are the only remaining hope that Indonesia has in the mixed doubles at the 2024 Junior World Championships.

The pair managed to break through the round of 16 or the fourth round of the event after stopping the Chinese Taipei pair, Yi Hao Lin/Jheng Yu Chieh, two straight games 21-11 and 21-15 on Wednesday, October 9, 2024.

In the match which was held at the Nanchang International Sports Center Gymnasium, Darren/Bernadine played without a hitch in the first game.

They scored first and the opponent equalized the score to 1-1. However, the dominance of Indonesia's representatives after that was completely unstoppable.

"On the other hand, in the second game we lost the wind. So, at first we were still confused about it. Luckily, after the interval we were able to return to good performance," said Darren.

In the second game Darren/Bernadine conceded three consecutive points at the beginning. Five twin numbers came after that before they were one point ahead in the interval and were not overtaken anymore.

"After the interval of the second game we tried to change the rhythm by speeding up the game. If we play slowly, the opponent will continue to press it. The coach also reminded us of this," said Bernadine.

Furthermore, in the round of 16 on Thursday, October 10, 2024, the third seeded pair will again face another Chinese Taipei pair, namely Shao Hua Chiu/Yan Fei Chen.

Shao/Yan got tickets to the fourth round after stopping the Malaysian pair, Wee Yee Tern/Nicole Tan, two straight games 21-19 and 21-15.

"For tomorrow, we want to focus on ourselves first, strengthen our game pattern again," said Darren.

Unfortunately, Darren/Bernadine's steps were not followed by their two compatriots, Andhika Wirapati/Laudya Chelsea Griselda and Taufik Aderya/Clairine Yustin Mulia.

Andhika/Chelsea gave up from the 14th seed Bhargav Ram Arigela/Vennala Kalagotla from India with a score of 19-21, 22-24. As for Taufik/Clairine, they must recognize the representative of the fourth seeded host, Li Hong Yi/Zhang Jia Han, with the final score 13-21 and 19-21.

In this event, Indonesia actually has four mixed doubles pairs. The other one is M. Nawaf Khoiriyansyah/Luna Rianty Saffana.

However, the couple had already returned early in the second half after losing to the Japanese pair, Shuji Sawada/Aya Tamaki.