Jakarta: The World No. 1 men’s pair – Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon have pulled out of the Malaysia Open (Jun 28, 2022 – Jul 3, 2022), Malaysia Masters (July 5, 2022 – July 10, 2022), and Singapore Open (July 12, 2022 to July 17, 2022) due to Gideon still recovering from the surgery that removed small bone growths in his right and left ankles which took place in Portugal on April 6, 2022.
Their coach – Herry Iman Pierngadi has confirmed the withdrawal to Indonesian media on Thursday.
“It’s true, we have withdrawn Kevin and Marcus from the three tournaments including Malaysia Open, Malaysia Masters, and Singapore Open because Marcus has not fully recovered from the surgery especially on his left ankle. His movement on the court has not been smooth as before,” said Pierngadi.
Pierngadi said the results for “The Minions” at the Indonesia Masters and Indonesia Open have shown that Gideon has not reached 100%.
“It takes time for him to recover 100%,” added Pierngadi.
The legendary Indonesian men’s doubles coach also said that another reason for their withdrawal was they only have one week to prepare for those three tournaments, which was not enough time given Gideon is still recovering from the surgery.
“The competition in men’s doubles is so strong right now, if they don’t have enough time to prepare, and were forced to go to those three tournaments, they could lose to their opponents easily,” continued Pierngadi.
“Therefore, they should focus on and maximize their effort for the World Championships in August,” answered Pierngadi.
Sukamuljo/Gideon lost to qualifiers from China Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang 21-16, 13-21, 17-21 in the semi-finals of the 2022 Indonesia Masters, and lost to Kang Min Hyuk/Seo Seung Jae of Korea 14-21, 12-21 in the second round of the 2022 Indonesia Open.
