Thomas Cup: Indonesia Without Marcus/Kevin Face Taiwan, Coach: Not Easy, But We Will Fight Hard

Kevin/Marcus (Photo: Antara)

JAKARTA - Indonesia team manager Eddy Prayitno said the Garuda squad would prepare the right strategy to face Taiwan in the final match of the Thomas Cup Group A preliminaries which will be held on Wednesday, starting at 13.30 WIB.

In the previous two preliminary matches in Group A, Indonesia won 5-0 over Algeria, and 3-2 over Thailand.

“It is not easy to face Taiwan, supported by the Olympic men's doubles gold winner (Lee Yang/Wang Chi Lin). There was also single player Chou Tien Chen. Even so, we have to work hard and apply the right strategy to defeat them," said Eddy in his official statement, quoted by Antara, Wednesday.

Meanwhile, the Head of Binpres PP PBSI Rionny Mainaky said that facing Taiwan, the strategy for preparing players and playing tactics in the middle of the field must be right, both from the single and double sectors, and must be able to play maximally to contribute points.

He added that with the slow shuttlecock, there is a gap that can be exploited to penetrate the strength and speed of Lee Yang/Wang Chi Lin.

“With a slow ball, there is no way the opponent will continue to rely on strength and speed. Therefore, the strategy of the double pair game that we will play must be able to dampen and invite slow play. Lee/Wang's attacks are certainly not as fast as in the Tokyo Olympics," said Rionny.

To beat Taiwan, according to him, the players must also have a high fighting spirit.

"You have to fight optimally, be enthusiastic, tenacious, patient and ready to be tired. In addition, you have to know when to defend and when to attack back, you have to have the right momentum. No less important, you have to be ready to fight mentally," said Rionny.

Furthermore, the head coach of men's doubles Herry Iman Pierngadi ensured that the men's doubles sector was ready to fight optimally and contribute points.

However, he continued, the condition of the appearance of the world number one pair, Marcus Fernaldi Gideon / Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, has so far not returned to their best form of play. In addition, Kevin's condition is also considered not fit.

"Not easy. But we in the men's doubles will fight hard first. I will see how ready they are,” said Herry.

The following is the line-up for Indonesia vs Taiwan in the last preliminary match in Group A of the Thomas Cup.

Men's singles 1Anthony Sinisuka Ginting vs Chou Tien Chen

Men's doubles 1Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto vs Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin

Men's singles 2 Jonathan Christie vs Wang Tzu Wei​​​​

Men's doubles 2Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo vs Lu Ching Yao/Yang Po Han​​​​

Men's singles 3Shesar Hiren Rhustavito vs Chi Yu Jen