JAKARTA - Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon's men's doubles suffered their first defeat in the preliminary round of Group A of the Tokyo 2020 Olympics after being defeated by representatives of Taiwan, Tuesday.
Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin became the executor for the Minions with a score of 21-18, 15-21, 21-17 after struggling in a tight match for 51 minutes.
This unsatisfactory result also marked the Minions' first loss to the world number three men's doubles in four meetings since 2019.
Kevin/Marcus started the game by immediately experiencing pressure from Lee/Wang. The opponent's advantage was maintained until the Minions could turn things around and followed from a score of 10-16 to a draw of 16-16.
Lee/Wang also accelerated the stroke and did a short rally to suppress Kevin/Marcus. As a result, Lee/Wang secured victory in the first game in 14 minutes.
Minions raise the level of the game in the second game, with the competition being tougher than the opening game.
Both pairs chased each other's score, adding points one after another taking advantage of short rallies punctuated by hard smashes. Both Kevin/Marcus and Lee/Wang stepped up their attacks, although in the end Kevin/Marcus managed to equalize the score 1-1 and forced the match into the deciding game.
The intensity and tension in the third game is not much different from the previous game. Both pairs remain focused on attack to pursue a point advantage.
In this game there are no long rallies and points can be earned with just three or four strokes and returns. The Minions who had the upper hand unfortunately couldn't last long and had to admit the superiority of Lee/Wang.
Even though they lost to Lee/Wang, the Minions will certainly qualify from the group A stage with the men's doubles from Taiwan. However, the determination of who is the winner and runner-up of the group is still waiting for the results of the match from India vs England.
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