2023 Sudirman Cup: Indonesia Runs Aground In Quarter Finals After Losing 0-3 To China

JAKARTA Indonesia's dream of bringing home the 2023 Sudirman Cup must disappear after losing to China in the quarter-finals. The Red and White squad collapsed 0-3 at the Suzhou Olympic Sports Center, China, Friday, May 19, 2023 evening WIB.

The three Indonesian representatives who lost were mixed doubles Rinov Rivaldy/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja, men's singles Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, and women's singles Gregoria Mariska Tunjung.

Rinov/Gloria actually performed well and almost gave Indonesia the first point. The pair managed to win in the first game and had a chance to lead in the second game.

Unfortunately, the many mistakes in itself made China successfully reverse the lag and forced the match into the third game. In this game, Rinov/Gloria are made helpless and have to give up with a gap of ten points.

"Maybe from experience and consistency, especially in the second game, we couldn't keep up with them. We were ahead 19-14 in the second game, but couldn't finish the game. We made a lot of mistakes ourselves," said Rinov after the match.

Indonesia then had to lag 0-2 behind after Anthony's defeat in the second match. The owner of the bronze medal at the 2020 Tokyo Olympics was made to give up two straight games by the Chinese single Shi Yuqi.

Anthony successfully led his opponent and was able to play tight in the first game which ended 22-20. However, in the second game he limped so he gave up on a seven-point difference in the next game.

"Earlier, unfortunately, I could not quickly change my strategy when leading in the first game. I was less consistent in tactics and strokes. I couldn't anticipate an opponent who changed the strategy that could follow," said Anthony.

Gregoria, who took part in the third match against Chen Yufei, could not do much either. The 2017 junior world champion must recognize the toughness of his opponent in the duel of two straight games 20-22 and 12-21.

This defeat automatically made Indonesia's dream of ending the Sudirman Cup drought disappear again. Indonesia has never won since its first edition in 1989 or 34 years ago which was held in Jakarta.

Since then, Indonesia has returned to the final six times, but has suffered four defeats at the hands of China and twice at the hands of Korea.

Two defeats to Korea occurred in 1991 and 1993. Meanwhile, four defeats against China each occurred in the 1995, 2001, 2005, and 2007 editions.