Minions Admit Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin Played Better: They Played Fast And Didn't Make Many Mistakes

Kevin/Marcus (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Men's doubles Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon responded to their loss to Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin by assessing that their opponents played better in the Group A meeting in the Tokyo Olympics badminton on Tuesday.

The world number one pair lost the rubber game 18-21, 21-15, 17-21 in the last match of the preliminary phase which took place at Musashino Forest Sport Plaza, Tokyo.

"The opponent played very well today and we started late. Today they did play better than us", Kevin said about the match, through an official statement from the Indonesian Olympic Committee (KOI) as reported by Antara.

Kevin/Marcus' defeat to Lee/Wang was the first in their four meetings since 2019.

It must be admitted that the third-ranked men's doubles performance from Taiwan is also experiencing rapid improvement, so it's no wonder they are one of the anticipated pairs at the Olympics.

Since the beginning of the match, Lee/Wang played hard until there was a score taking turns in a short time.

A short rally also colored the competition between the two pairs in the 51-minute match.

"They played fast and didn't make many mistakes today. This result gives us the opportunity to learn more", said Marcus.

Despite losing in the third match, the pair nicknamed the Minions have already bagged two wins from Indian and British players, thus ensuring they advance to the quarter-finals as group winners.

Seeing their game so far at the Tokyo Olympics, the Minions are trying not to think about the burden of the match, but will still play at full strength.

"We are enjoying this Olympics quite well. The pressure for us is also quite high, but we try not to think about it and always try to give our best", said Marcus.