aJakarta: For this year’s Olympics in Rio de Janeiro, Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) still relied heavily on Hendra Setiawan/Mohammad Ahsan to bring home the nation’s first Olympic gold medal since Hendra Setiawan and Markis Kido last won it at the 2008 Beijing Olympics by defeating Cai Yun/Fu Haifeng 12–21, 21–11, 21–16 in the men’s doubles final.
To assure maximum chances for success in Rio, PBSI has been looking for a second men’s doubles pair to quality for the quadrennial event in Rio, and World No. 10 men’s pair Angga Pratama/Ricky Karanda Suwardi has been seen as the next combination who has the best possible opportunity to play in the 2016 Olympics.
“Angga and Ricky have the biggest chance of playing alongside Hendra / Ahsan in Rio. However, they are still trying to secure Olympic qualifying points because they have missed out of few targets in 2015,” said PBSI men’s doubles coach, Herry Iman Pierngadi.
Herry Iman Pierngadi also remained conservative in the pair’s outlook to qualify for the Rio Olympics.
“There are still some tournaments before the Olympics, Angga/Ricky would have to work hard in 2016, and at their max in every tournament, or at least make it to the semi-finals in order to have a good chance of making to the Olympics,” added Pierngadi.
Unfortunately, Angga/Ricky suffered an early hiccup in 2016 and expected to be absent from several tournaments due to Angga has contracted dengue fever and would require some rest before getting active again.
On the bright side, Indonesian men’s doubles pairs such as Berry Angriawan/Rian Agung Saputro and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Markus Fernaldi Gideon also on PBSI’s radar to qualify for Rio.
“If Rian/Berry and Kevin/Marcus could put up truly remarkable performances before the end of the qualification period, they will have a good chance of making to the Olympic. We have alreay laid out a game plan for each of them,” said Pierngadi.
Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Markus Fernaldi Gideon are expected to rise in the Badminton World Federation (BWF) rankings to be release this week after their triumph at the Malaysia Masters last week.
