Jakarta: Ever since the Badminton World Federation (BWF) had canceled all international badminton tournaments since March 15th, 2020 due to the COVID-19 threat, a lot of shuttlers were taking the wait-and-see approach as they are still trying to find out when BWF would officially resume it’s 2020 season.
In order to stimulate the enthusiasm of Indonesian shuttlers and to fuel their competitive feelings on the court, the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) has organized an internal tournament called “PBSI Home Tournament” between Indonesia’s national shuttlers starting June 24, 2020.
World No. 4 mixed doubles pair Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti put up a brilliant show to beat Akbar Bintang Cahyono/Winny Oktavina Kandow 21-9, 21-17 by winning the Mola TV PBSI Home Tournament on Friday.
Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti won the first game easily but were facing fierce resistance from Akbar Bintang Cahyono/Winny Oktavina Kandow in the second set before emerging as the champions.
“We started the first game strong, Akbar/Winny were playing in rubber games before the final, perhaps they were a little tired,” said Jordan after the match.
“In the second game, I lost my focus a little bit, and our opponents were taking advantage of my problems. Fortunately, I was able to regain my rhythm at the end of the second set,” said Oktavianti.
Meanwhile, Akbar Bintang Cahyono/Winny Oktavina Kandow got to play together in this tournament again after being split up for more than a year because Kandow was paired with the 2016 Rio Olympics gold medalist, Tontowi Ahmad, who has now resigned from professional badminton.
Both Cahyono and Kandow acknowledged it was not easy to play together as a pair again.
“Many people said we played very well in this tournament, but at the beginning, it’ was very chaotic because Akbar’s playing style is very different from Owi’s (Tontowi Ahmad),” said Kandow.
Cahyono/Kandow have created some surprises in this tournament, as they defeated second seeds and World No. 8 Hafiz Faizal/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja in the group stage, before losing to the top seeds in the final.
Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti take home USD $3242.89 at the PBSI Home Tournament.
