JAKARTA - The Indonesian team will start their struggle in the 2022 Thomas Cup on Sunday, 8 May. Hendra Setiawan and his friends will face Singapore in their first match in Group A.
Indonesia's men's doubles badminton coach, Herry Iman Pierngadi, said that his team would not take Singapore lightly. According to him, the opposing team deserves to be wary of because mentally they are in the best position after a number of their badminton players have shown brilliant performances in international competitions.
"Any opponent of any country must prepare, it should not be taken lightly. I saw it in the men's doubles, right, we have to contribute points too," said Herry, as quoted by Antara, Saturday, May 7.
For the determination of the athletes to be played, Herry will only discuss it on Saturday night. He will just decide which pair will play in the opening match which will take place at the Impact Arena Bangkok.
Even so, Herry guaranteed that the entire men's doubles line was ready to compete against Singapore, including Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo who was present without his partner, Marcus Fernaldi Gideon.
"At the end of the day it will be decided. We will coordinate with the players who are the most prepared, if there are problems or what, then we will enter the name in the line-up. If we asked all the athletes, yes, everything is ready," said Herry.
In terms of technical preparation, the Indonesian Thomas Cup team has also undergone the last training session which took place at the Thai Ministry of Defense Building. In this session, Herry regretted that the field conditions were a bit slippery, which made the training process less than optimal.
In Antara's observation at the location, it was seen that a number of Indonesian badminton players, both singles and doubles, often cleaned the field independently because the field was slippery.
To get around this obstacle, the Indonesian national team is trying to keep practicing as best they can so that their physical condition is maintained ahead of the inaugural match.
"The problem is that the field is very slippery, so we can't practice normally. But yes, we are smart enough to manage the field conditions. At least there is movement for athletes to prepare for tomorrow," concluded Herry.
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