Jakarta: Indonesia’s World No. 1 men’s pair – Marcus Fernaldi Gideon might have just recovered from the surgery to remove small bones that grew in his right and left ankles on April 6th, 2022, in Portugal. But, the surgery didn’t appear to matter to him and his partner Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo in their Indonesia Masters first-round match on Tuesday.
Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo who last played at the 2022 All England, before losing to the eventual 2022 All England champions – Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Bagas Maulana 20-22, 21-13, 16-21 in the semi-finals on March 19, 2022, eased through the opening round of the Indonesia Masters claiming victory against Christo Popov/Toma Junior Popov of France 21-16, 21-19.
The “Minions” are going to face Supak Jomkoh/Kittinupong Kedren of Thailand next.
Apart from Gideon/Sukamuljo, the World No. 3 Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan also advanced into the second round by beating Jeppe Bay/Lasse Molhede of Denmark 21-12, 21-19.
Malaysia’s men’s doubles No. 8 seeds Goh Sze Fei/Nur Izzuddin notched up their first-round victory by beating Alexander Dunn/Adam Hall of Scotland 21-9, 21-14 to play Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani of Indonesia in the second round.
Meanwhile, the World No. 95 Sabar Karyaman Gutama/Moh Reza Pahlevi Isfahani pulled off a huge upset to overcome compatriots and 2022 All England champions – the World No. 20 Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Bagas Maulana 19-21, 21-12, 21-16 to enter the Indonesia Masters second round.
This was Gutama/Isfahani’s second career win against Fikri/Maulana. They defeated their higher-ranked compatriots 21-16, 21-19 in the quarter-finals of the 2021 Spain Masters.
Two Malaysian women’s doubles pairs – Vivian Hoo/Lim Chiew Sien and Pearly Tan/Thinaah Muralitharan have both cruised into the second round. Hoo/Lim will meet No. 7 seeds Apriyani Rahayu/Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti of Indonesia while Tan/Muralitharan will play Baek Ha Na/Lee Yu Lim of Korea in the second round.
