Indonesian Men’s Team Advances to Thomas Cup Final After Victory Against South Korea and Taiwan

In the afternoon session, the men’s team won the semi-finals against South Korea, 3-1, against Taiwan, who qualified for the semi-finals for the first time. Chou Tien Chen and his friends defeated the second seed, Denmark, also with a score of 3-1.

The victory of the “Red and White” men’s team avenged the defeat by South Korea that happened in the last two meetings in different team events, despite winning 12-1 in the Thomas Cup. The defeat occurred in the men’s team semi-finals of the 2022 Hangzhou Asian Games and the group stage of the 2024 Asian Team Championship, which qualify for the Thomas and Uber Cups in the Asian zone.

The men’s team met the target of winning two singles and one doubles, namely from Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, Jonatan Christie, and an instant couple, Fajar Alfian/Daniel Marthin. The lost points came from Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Bagas Maulana who lost to Kang Min-hyuk/Seo Seung-jae with a score of 15-21, 12-21 in the second game.

ANTARA/GALIH PRADIPTA

Indonesian men’s doubles Muhammad Shohibul Fikri / Bagas Maulana try to return the shuttlecock to their opponents South Korean men’s doubles Kang Min Hyuk / Seo Seung Jae in the quarter-final match of the 2024 Thomas Cup in Chengdu, China, Friday (3/5/2024) .

However, as noted from the start, South Korea is a men’s team that often surprises in the team competition even though they do not have top players, especially in singles . Jeon Hyeok-jin and Cho Geonyeop showed that their low ranking and minimal experience in major tournaments were not reasons to worry them against Anthony and Jonathan.

Anthony and Eoin, of course, lost the first game and had to play for more than an hour to win. Anthony defeated Jeon 14-21, 21-16, 21-16, and Jonathan won over Cho Geonyeop 17-21, 21-17, 21-10.

Jeon, the 47th player in the world this year, has the German Open Super 300 semi-final result. Meanwhile, Cho (ranked 120th) was in the final in a lower competition, namely the Vietnam International Challenge. This is different from Anthony (7) who reached the final of the All England Super 1000, and Eoin who became the Asian and All England champion.

However, when they compete on the same field, these statistics do not matter. Anthony had trouble dealing with Jeon’s tenacity in the early games because he could defend well. Only in the second game, Anthony was able to recover even though he was behind until the middle of the game.

“In terms of ranking, Korean players are not that good, but in the team, they like to surprise. That’s what I and my team talked about. “So, we’re very vigilant against them,” Anthony said.

Meanwhile, Jonathan said that losing in the quarter-finals of the Asian Games affected his performance. At that time, the same moment happened when Indonesia won the first game and lost the second party. After that, Jonathan played, then Leo Rolly Carnando / Daniel Marthin and they lost. Indonesia also lost 1-3.

After being dominated by Cho in the first game because he did not focus on his game, Jonathan tried to build his confidence and fighting spirit from the second game. These non-technical factors make it possible to play more comfortably.

Fajar/Daniel secured their third victory for Indonesia, a formation unveiled as part of a strategy to counter the strength of the South Korean men’s doubles. Fajar, a more experienced striker, and Daniel who had a strong break provided relief for the Indonesian team. They beat Kim Won-ho/Ki Dong-ju 21-12, 21-13.

Before the match, the men’s doubles coach Aryono Miranat explained the reasons for the reduction of the doubles of the two men. The men’s doubles strength of Indonesia and South Korea are evenly matched, but Fajar/Muhammad Rian Ardianto lost the last three meetings with Kang/Seo.

“Fikri/Bagas was encouraged by the hope of being able to play without the burden like against India. “Furthermore, it is hoped that Fajar/Daniel can win the second doubles,” Aryono said.

The victory against South Korea allowed the Indonesian men’s team to appear in the final for the fourth time in the last five editions. However, they must first beat Taiwan in the semi-finals.

This is the second meeting between Indonesia and Taiwan in the Thomas Cup after they competed in the group stage in Aarhus, Denmark in 2020. On that occasion, Indonesia won 3-2.

In the quarterfinals, Chou Tien Chen and his friends also showed that the superior status and lower ranking of Danish players was not a problem. In fact, Chou defeated the world’s number one player, Viktor Axelsen, 21-19, 14-21, 21-19. In fact, Chou was 3-18 in other meetings and suffered nine losses in the last ten meetings.

Taiwan qualified for the semi-finals for the first time since appearing in the Thomas Cup finals in 2014. Their previous best performance was reaching the quarter-finals there in 2016.

Waiting 14 years

The semifinals that the Indonesian women’s team will go through are the first since 2010 when they were strengthened by Adriyanti Firdasari, Maria Febe Kusumastuti and Maria Kristin Yulianti in the singles category. The doubles were the responsibility of several players, including Greysia Polii, Liliyana Natsir, and Shendy Puspa Irawati. Greysia and Shendy are now part of the PP PBSI mentor and ad hoc team for the Paris 2024 Olympics.

“Yesterday Sis Greysia (Polii) came. Also on the cast is Cik Shendy (Puspa Irawati). They say, it’s been 14 years since an Uber team has been in the semi-finals, but we don’t have to think too much about it. “The important thing is to play at your best, fight tooth and nail on the field,” he said. Esther Nurumi Tri Wardoyo.

Ester, who played second singles, gave Indonesia its third win by beating Supanida Katethong 19-21, 21-19, 21-19 after battling for one hour and 23 minutes. In the last two matches, Gregoria defeated Ratchanok Intanon 22-20, 21-18, and Apriyani Rahayu / Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti won over Jongkolphan Kititharakul / Rawinda Prajongjai 21-17, 21-14.

As soon as Ester won the last point, the Indonesian Team cheered in the stands. Apriyani, as captain of the women’s team, kissed Gregoria. The two oldest players on the team called out. When Ester left the field, Gregoria went to her “sister” at the national badminton training center to kiss her.

They deserved to be relieved for the moment of victory as they had been behind Thailand in the competition in the Uber Cup. Thailand have been one of the strong teams in the Uber Cup since they have always qualified for the finals, starting in 2012. They have always had better results than Indonesia in all three final competitions by reaching the final in 2018 and the semi-finals in 2020. and 2022.

In three meetings with Indonesia before Chengdu, Thailand always won 3-2 over Indonesia, namely in the group stage of 2016, then in the quarter-finals of 2018 and 2020.

Indonesia’s top singles in Indonesia, Gregoria, always lost to Thailand’s top singles, Intanon, in eight meetings at different champions. However, when they met in the semi-finals of the Uber Cup this time, Gregoria looked different. Self-confidence is the factor that has the biggest impact on performance, which is growing.

One of the moments in Chengdu that gave him confidence against Intanon was the victory over Akane Yamaguchi, the Japanese player who was ranked fourth in the world, at the group stage. Indonesia lost 2-3, but Gregoria and Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi won.

However, Gregoria, who is becoming more and more mature mentally, said that he did not want to focus on winning over Yamaguchi. In addition, the match between Indonesia and Japan took place when both teams were confirmed to have qualified for the semi-finals.

“Anything can happen. When I play well, it is not guaranteed that I will have a clear mind and mind the next day. So, I reset my mind for a new challenge. Besides, today, like it or not, I have to win. So, I tried to stay calm and focus on myself,” said Gregoria, who played in the Uber Cup in 2016, 2018 and 2020.

Mental strength, fighting power of athletes and team unity will be needed again against South Korea in the semi-finals, on Saturday, starting at 08.30 WIB. The defending champion team is one of the three main powers in the women’s team, along with China and Japan who will compete in the other semi-finals. In fact, China has never been out of the semi-finals in the last 40 years.

In the line-up released by BWF on Friday night, Indonesia shows the same formation as the quarter-finals, namely Gregoria, Apriyani / Fadia, Ester, Lanny Tria Mayasari / Ribka Sugiarto, and Komang Ayu Cahwa Dewi.

South Korea did not field women’s world number one An Se-young, who was ineligible after making it through the quarter-finals. He was replaced by Sim Yu-jin who will be Gregoria’s opponent.

Without An, the “Red and White” team has a fair chance of winning with the opponent. However, South Korea has better strength in doubles.

Uber Indonesia – South Korea Cup Team Meeting Statistics

Jakarta 1986 level group 3-2

Kuala Lumpur 1988 group stage 1-4

1992 Semi Finals Kuala Lumpur 1-4

1994 Jakarta semifinal 4-1

1996 Hong Kong semi-final 4-1

Group Hong Kong 1998 level 3-2

Quarter-final Jakarta 2004 1-3

New Delhi Group 2014 level 1-4

Kunshan 2016 Final 0-3

Indonesia – Taiwan Thomas Cup Match Statistics

Group Penyisihan Aarhus 2020 3-2