Bangkok –
Indonesia chance to defend champion Thomas Cupher this year. However, the Red and White Heroes still need time to talk a lot in the Uber Cup.
In the 2022 Thomas & Uber Cup, Indonesia does have a different mission. As the defending champion, Indonesia has a mission to defend the title it won in Denmark last year.
Meanwhile, the Uber Cup without the presence of Greysia Polii and Apriyani Rahayu does rely on many young players. Indonesia both ensured the ticket to qualify for the quarter-finals in the second match.
In the Thomas Cup, Indonesia won 4-1 over Singapore and Thailand, before struggling to win the group title after beating South Korea 3-2.
Team Thomas’ perfect record was not followed by Team Uber. After beating Germany and France with a score of 5-0, Bilqis Prasista et al. lost 1-4 to Japan in the group winner match.
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Bilqis Prasista stole the attention after defeating Akane Yamaguchi. However, his steps were stopped in the 2022 Uber Cup after being defeated by representatives of China 21-19, 18-21 and 7-21. Photo: ANTARA FOTO/M RISYAL HIDAYAT– |
In the quarter-finals of the Thomas Cup, Indonesia appeared strong against favorites China. Their strongest rival was crushed by a score of 3-0 and Indonesia advanced to the semifinals smoothly.
Unfortunately, the Uber team stopped in the quarterfinals because they lost 0-3 to China. As a result, Uber’s title race has continued since it last won it in 1996.
Meanwhile, Team Thomas had to meet a tough opponent, namely Japan in the semifinals. A good start was made when Anthony Sinisuka Ginting won over Kento Momota and Kevin Sanjaya/Mohammad Ahsan over Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi.
 Anthony Sinisuka Ginting against Kento Momota Photo: Getty Images/Shi Tang– |
Winning 2-0, Indonesia even lost momentum when Jonatan Christie lost two straight games to Kenta Nishimoto. Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto, who were expected to be able to lock up their qualification to the final, ended up falling apart.
Fajar/Rian trailed 14-21 to Akira Koga/Yuta Watanabae in the first game and managed to get back up to win the second game 21-13. In the third game, Fajar/Rian had to lose 18-21.
As a result, Shesar Hiren Rustavito had to step down to play the deciding party against Kodai Naraoka. Vito managed to bring Indonesia to the final with a 21-17 and 21-11 victory over Naraoka.
Indonesia will appear in the Thomas Cup final again for two consecutive editions and will face India at the Impact Arena, Sunday (15/5/2022). Can Indonesia defend its title and win its 15th title in this event? Let’s just wait.
As for the Uber Indonesia Team, a bright future is in the hands of Bilqis et al. if they are able to increase their performance again.
Thomas and Uber Cup 2022 this time is a BWF tournament held in collaboration with Mansion M88. Apart from Thomas & Uber Cup 2022, some of the top BWF tournaments supported by Mansion M88 are the Badminton World Championship and Sudirman Cup.
(mrp/nds)
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