TOKYO – Indonesian men’s singles badminton, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, became the only representative of the country who appeared in the event Tokyo 2020 Olympics today, Sunday (1/8/2021). Anthony Sinisuka Ginting is scheduled to face China’s men’s singles, Chen Long, in the badminton semifinals Tokyo 2020 Olympics which took place at Musashino Forest Sports Plaza, around 11.50 WIB.
The winner of the match will play Kevin Cordon (Guatemala) or Viktor Axelsen (Denmark) in the top badminton event at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. Kevin Cordon and Viktor Axelsen also compete in the semifinals on the same day at 11.00 WIB.
(Anthony Ginting confirms a place in the badminton semifinals at the Tokyo 2020 Olympics. (Photo: NOC Indonesia)
The match between Anthony Ginting and Chen Long is predicted to be fierce because both of them are ranked in the top six of the Badminton World Federation (BWF). Anthony Sinisuka Ginting is in fifth place and Chen Long is just below him.
When viewed from the statistics of the meeting, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting is indeed superior to Chen Long with an overall score of 8-4. Finally, the 25-year-old defeated Chen Long at the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2019 in two straight games, 21-15 and 21-15.
Nevertheless, Anthony Sinisuka Ginting you can’t feel like you have the upper hand. Chen Long (32 years) is an experienced player and winner of the 2016 Rio Olympics men’s singles gold and bronze medals at the 2012 London Olympics.
Meanwhile, for Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, the 2020 Olympics will be his first appearance at the four-yearly sporting event. The experience factor and the opponent’s strategy are certainly included in the consideration of Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and the coach in order to win.
“Even though Anthony is ahead, we can’t say we will definitely win (against Chen). However, we have to study Chen’s changes, his physical condition and other changes so that we can determine the right strategy,” said Indonesian men’s singles coach Hendry Saputra.
