Kevin/Marcus Don't Think About Ranking Again, Now They Are More Focused On The Results Of Each Tournament

Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon. (Photo: Twitter @INABadminton)

JAKARTA - The performance of Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi this year is far from expectations. Injuries and several problems are the cause.

As a result, the pair nicknamed the Minions experienced a decline in performance and had not yet won a single title this year. In fact, in several tournaments, they lost in the early rounds.

Of the 15 tournaments that have been undertaken this year, their best achievement is the runners-up at the Denmark Open 2022, last October. At that time, Kevin/Marcus lost to national training partner, Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto.

The Minions last took the top podium at the 2021 Indonesia Open in Bali.

This made Kevin/Marcus abdicate from the world's one position since September 20, 2022. This ended their record of staying at the top of the BWF standings which had lasted 214 weeks.

Related to this, Kevin admitted that he had no problem. According to him, the most important thing is appearance and results in each tournament.

"We want to focus more on the results of each tournament, we don't want to think about rankings, it's the same. After all, if the results are good, the ranking will automatically go up," Kevin said, as quoted by Antara.

Kevin also admitted that the world's men's doubles competition was getting more difficult, including with fellow Indonesian men's doubles. "Now the opponent is getting better and better so we have to be able to improve (quality) ourselves," said Kevin.

Meanwhile, Marcus admitted that he did not feel threatened by the emergence of new great doubles, including a couple from Indonesia.

"In fact, the more enemies there will be more attraction and enthusiasm for us. So the motivation is bigger because many rivals are chasing them," Marcus added.

Kevin/Marcus are ready to return to the BWF world tour competition next year, starting with the Malaysia Open on 10-15 January 2023, India Open (17-22 January), and Indonesia Masters 2023 (24-29 January).