JAKARTA - Indonesian men's doubles Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon did not deny that they are eyeing a gold medal at the Tokyo Olympics after securing tickets to the quarter-finals on Monday.
Even so, Kevin/Marcus admitted that they did not want to be burdened with this ambition, especially since the road to winning a medal was still long.
"We want to win the gold medal, but the game is still long. We don't want to add to that pressure," said Marcus after winning the second group stage match against Indian pair Satwiksairaj Rankireddy / Chirag Shetty, quoted by Antara from the BWF website.
Kevin/Marcus have confirmed a place in the quarter-finals after eliminating Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty in the second match of the Tokyo Olympics Group A preliminary phase.
The world number one pair won in two straight games 21-13, 21-12 in a 32-minute match.
Although it has been confirmed that they have qualified for the quarter-finals, Kevin/Marcus still have one last match in the preliminary phase against the Taiwanese pair, Lee Yang/Wang Chi-Lin, on Tuesday.
Marcus added that the first seed status in Tokyo does not guarantee they can continue to win in all matches. The most important thing for him is how he and Kevin can enjoy every game that lies ahead.
"We just want to enjoy every game step by step. Our partners (Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan) are a great couple, but everyone is great here too,” concluded Gideon.
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