Odense: Indonesia’s World No. 1 men’s doubles pair, Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon got off to a strong start in the 2021 Denmark Open first round, seeing off French pair Christo Popov/Toma Junior Popov in straight games, 21-14 and 21-19 at Odense Sports Park, on Tuesday.
The Popov brothers started the first game by attacking Gideon, kept feeding him the shuttlecock and that strategy worked for few moments when the French pair was leading 4-2. Nevertheless, once Gideon and Sukamuljo got used to the playing tactics from the French pair, they quickly opened up the lead to 10-5, 19-12 and won the first game with 21-14.
In the second set, the older Popov – Toma Junior, kept unleashing his powerful smashes and that did cause some troubles for the Indonesians. After 14-14, Sukamuljo seemed to be back to his old form by displaying some deceptive shots to catch the Popov brothers off guard, and the Indonesian pair went on to win the second game 21-19.
Sukamuljo/Gideon will play teammates Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Bagas Maulana in the second round.
Meanwhile, in women’s doubles, Indonesia’s Tokyo Olympics gold medalists – Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu, had to work hard in the first round in order to eliminate the World No. 18 Malaysian pair – Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan 17-21, 21-13 and 21-14.
In the first game, Tan/Muralitharan was able to score six consecutive points when trailing 15-17 to take the first game 21-17.
The Indonesian pair managed to cut down their mistakes in the second game, leading most of the game to force a decider by winning 21-13.
Polii/Rahayu finally showed their true capabilities as Olympic gold medalists in the decider by utilizing their experience and technical excellence to beat Tan/Muralitharan 21-14, and will take on Maiken Fruergaard/Sara Thygesen of Denmark next.
In men’s singles, Indonesia’s former World No. 3, Tommy Sugiarto, whose last competed at the 2020 All England, finally reappeared after 588 days away from international tournaments, beating World No. 18 Kantaphon Wangcharoen of Thailand 21-14, 21-8 to set up a second-round battle with the winner between Thomas Rouxel of French or compatriot Anthony Sinisuka Ginting. The match between Rouxel and Ginting will take place on Wednesday.
