Bagas/Fikri Excluded From Korea Masters, Red And White Team's Representative Runs Out

Bagas/Fikri (Photo: PBSI)

JAKARTA - The pair Bagas Maulana/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri who was Indonesia's last representative at the 2022 Korea Masters were eliminated after facing the pair Hiroki Okamura/Masayuki Onodera from Japan on Friday.

Quoted from Antara from the BWF official website, in the quarter-final match, the fourth seed lost the rubber game 23-25, 21-19, 20-22 in the first meeting against world number 57.

The two couples, who met for the first time, were immediately involved in fierce competition in the first game. From the beginning to the end of the game, Bagas/Fikri and Okamura/Onodera chased each other fiercely for points.

The advantages were taken one after another by both partners with a very thin difference in points. Bagas/Fikri were noted to have won 11-9, 13-11, 18-16, and 22-21. However, the Japanese representatives who played more patiently and did not carelessly made the first game win in their favor.

Japan's men's doubles almost won two straight games over Indonesia. At the start of the second game, Okamura/Onodera took a 0-5 lead over Bagas/Fikri.

Bagas/Fikri kept trying to catch up and trying to reduce the number of hitting mistakes and play more patiently. It was quite difficult for Bagas/Fikri to catch up, but their hard work slowly paid off by reducing the gap in points.

Bagas/Fikri raised points to 2-5, 3-6, 5-7, 8-10, and finally managed to overtake with 12-11. Even Okamura/Onodera didn't want to lose by joining in on the chase, but Bagas/Fikri managed to lock the advantage to extend it to the third game.

The typical tenacious and patient game of Japanese players is an obstacle that is still difficult for Indonesian men's doubles to face. Bagas/Fikri, who tried to play harder, couldn't break through Okamura/Onodera's solid defense in the third game.

As a result, Japan was slowly able to steal the advantage even though Bagas/Fikri had the early lead with a score of 6-3, 9-6, 14-11. The turning point occurred in the second half when Okamura/Onodera recorded 18-20 points over Bagas/Fikri.

Bagas/Fikri had time to try to seize the leadership and could equalize 20-20. But again, the patience of the Japanese pair paid off with two decisive points that knocked Bagas/Fikri out of the tournament.

With this defeat, all representatives of the Red and White team in the BWF Super 300 level tournament have been eliminated. On the previous day, the sixth seeded mixed doubles Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari were also eliminated in the round of 16 on Thursday.

Rinov/Pitha who met the pair from China, Ou Xuan Yi/Huang Ya Qiong, had to admit their opponent's advantage in 32 minutes and recorded a final score of 13-21, 18-21.