Bali: After beating the Tokyo Olympics gold medalists Lee Yang/Wang Chi-lin of Taiwan in their first Group A match 23-21, 21-19 at 2021 BWF World Tour Finals on Wednesday, Indonesia’s World No. 1 men’s pair Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon a.k.a “the Minions” repeated the feat in the semi-finals on Saturday, coming back from dropping the first game to beat the Olympics champions 18-21, 23-21, 21-17 in 61 minutes.
The tempo in the first game was slow because both pairs were playing a lot of rallies, while Sukamuljo/Gideon couldn’t adapt to the playing style of the Taiwanese pair and lost in the opening set.
“In the first game, they were pressing very hard, and also launched a lot of strong smashes,” said Gideon.
“They played better in the semi-finals than during the group stage, they were more prepared and putting a lot of pressure on us. Their attacks were very good,” said Sukamuljo.
The World No. 1 Indonesian pair stepped up their attacks and took advantage of Wang Chi-lin’s mistakes to take the second game and force a decider.
In the deciding game, the two pairs were again playing at a slow tempo but “the Minions” were able to fend off the spirited challenge from Lee/Wang to advance to the final.
“Yes, focus on every point, we just want to give our best,” said Sukamuljo.
In the final, Sukamuljo/Gideon will once again face off against Japanese pair Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi. The two pairs had previously faced off in the finals of the Indonesia Masters and Indonesia Open, where Hoki/Kobayashi beat Sukamuljo/Gideon in the Indonesia Masters final, while the Indonesian pair overcame the Japanese pair to win the Indonesia Open title last Sunday.
“We will definitely try our best tomorrow. The important thing is to have enough rest and recovery,” said Gideon.
In men’s singles, the Tokyo Olympics champion Viktor Axelsen of Denmark extended his career head-to-head record against Lakshya Sen of India to 4-0 as he saw off the Indian player 21-13, 21-11 in the semi-finals.
Meanwhile, Malaysia’s Lee Zii Jia went down to Thailand’s Kunlavut Vitidsarn 18-21, 18-21 in another men’s singles semis.
