Jakarta: Leading Indonesian men’s doubles pair Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan reckons there is no better time to win the world title on home turf than this year’s world championships, which will be held on Monday (10/8) to Sunday (16/8) at the Senayan Stadium in Jakarta. Indonesia is no stranger to hosting the world championships. Indonesia has hosted the 1980, and 1989 editions in Jakarta.
“There will be no world championships next year due to the Rio Olympic Games, that’s why we are hoping to become the champions this year. Moreover, I have never won the World Champion title in Indonesia,” said Hendra Setiawan.
The pair who won the 2013 world championship together in Guangzhou, has been seeded third for the Jakarta world meet. They were placed in the same half with top seeds Lee Yong Dae/Yoo Yeon Seong of South Korea, and the No. 5 seeds Fu Haifeng/Zhang Nan of China. Hendra Setiawan also became the world champion in 2007, when he and Markis Kido defeated Jung Jae-sung/Lee Yong-dae in the final.
“We will just have to take it one game at a time. We will face Kenta Kazuno/Kazushi Yamada of Japan in the last 16, and they are a really good men’s doubles pair. We may play either men’s pair from Denmark or from Taiwan after that,” added Hendra Setiawan.
Hendra admitted there’s no pressure on him and Ahsan to win another world championship, but they are still undergoing rigorous training to get ready for the tournament.
“We always work with our coach to figure out the best strategy when we are on the badminton court,” said Hendra.
Meanwhile, PBSI’s men’s’ doubles head coach Herry Iman Pierngadi told reporter that all Indonesian men’s doubles pairs who will play in the world championships are currently taking high-intensity trainings to prepare for competitions.
“This week, we are working to improve players’ technical skills. We are also watching video footages to identify the strengths and weaknesses of our opponents,” said Herry.
“Even though Hendra/Ahsan have been losing to pairs from South Korea and China quite a lot lately, but the home court advantage in this year’s world meet will strongly favor the top Indonesian pair. I also hope Angga/Ricky could advance to semifinal, and Ade/Wahyu could spring a surprise,” added Herry.
