JawaPos.com-Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo achieved less than satisfactory results at the Indonesia Masters 2022 and Indonesia Open 2022.
At the Indonesia Masters, Marcus/Kevin ran aground in the semifinals. They were defeated by Chinese doubles who had crawled since the qualifying phase, Liang Weikeng/Wang Chang. The Minions lost in straight game with a fairly landslide score of 17-21 and 10-21.
At the Indonesia Open, Marcus/Kevin had already lost in the second round. The world number one double was knocked out by South Korean doubles Kang Min-hyuk/Seo Seung-jae in two game straight, 14-21 and 12-21.
This defeat made Marcus/Kevin fail to defend their title at the Indonesia Open. Previously, Marcus/Kevin was very dominant in this Super 1000 tournament. They won three times in a row in 2018, 2019, and 2021. The 2020 edition had to be canceled due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
Indonesian men’s doubles coach Herry Iman Pierngadi said that from the start, he did not give Marcus/Kevin a winning target. Because, Marcus’s condition is not 100 percent fit.
On April 6, Marcus had to undergo surgery in Portugal. Marcus suffered injuries to both ankles. In addition, there are small bones growing in the ankles of his right and left legs.
The appearance of the small bones made Marcus uncomfortable and often felt pain. Performance is not optimal. Explosiveness and the power decreased and hindered.
To be completely injury free, Marcus was operated on by renowned orthopedic surgeon and sports traumatologist Niek van Dijk. The Dutch doctor has operated on famous football players, including Cristiano Ronaldo, Robin van Persie, to Keylor Navas, and Stephan El Shaarawy.
Because he was still recovering, Marcus missed a number of tournaments. These include the Korea Open, Korea Masters, Thomas Cup, and Thailand Open.
Marcus finally made his post-surgery debut at the 2022 Indonesia Masters. In the Super 500 level tournament, Marcus/Kevin got pretty good results by reaching the semifinals.
After the defeat in the semifinals of the Indonesia Masters, Marcus admitted that his training was still not optimal. So reaching the top four, according to Marcus, is a pretty decent result.
“Personally, I’m just just try. And we don’t know the result. It’s only been a week or two of training,” said Marcus.
In an interview at mixed zone In the 2022 Indonesia Masters, Kevin was mostly silent. He only answered two short sentences when reporters asked about his performance. “Definitely grateful. The conditions are the same,” he said.
In the semifinal match, Kevin was clearly struggling to fill the back area of the game. Usually, it was Marcus who operated in the area. However, because Marcus is still not 100 percent, Kevin is the one doing the most covering.
However, Kevin does a lot unforced error. His body gestures show that he is not totally in the game. Almost the same thing happened when Kevin competed against Kang/Seo in the second round of the Indonesia Open 2022.
Marcus/Kevin lost relatively quickly and quite easily in the semifinals of the Indonesia Masters and the second round of the Indonesia Open. Respectively in the tempo of 33 and 34 minutes.
Herry IP is very aware that the public has criticized a lot attitude, attitude, and body language Kevin.
According to Herry IP, Kevin was disappointed because Marcus’ physical and performance were beyond his expectations. Apparently, Marcus is not fully ready to participate in the Indonesia Masters and Indonesia Open.
“He (Kevin) wants more, wants to win,” Herry IP told JawaPos.com. “So it was yesterday’s condition no fit with his wishes. language bet ya. It should be, as a top-level player, he has to deal with all this well,” added the coach nicknamed Coach Naga Api that.
Herry IP said that a champion must respond well to every victory and defeat in a match.
“We have given him input regarding his attitude. Supposedly, his attitude reflects a champion. Winning and losing must be handled with grace,” said Herry IP.
Herry IP added that Marcus was not fully ready to compete in the Indonesia Masters and Indonesia Open. But for Marcus, this event is very important. Namely as test case to measure the extent to which the 31-year-old player’s physical readiness to face high-level tournaments.
So ideally, said Herry IP, Kevin understands this condition. The public also doesn’t just demand Marcus/Kevin to always win in matches.
But the audience, especially those who have sacrificed to witness their action at Istora Senayan, want to see Marcus/Kevin give their best in every match. Whatever the result.
“People can judge how body language Kevin. That’s why we have given him input,” said Herry IP. “We can accept public criticism of Kevin and Gideon. This is also an input for Kevin to be better in the future, “added Herry IP.
Currently, Marcus/Kevin are preparing to compete in the Malaysia Open Super 750 which will take place from 28 June to 3 July. After that, they will compete in the Malaysia Masters Super 500 on 5 to 10 July.
Marcus said that currently his leg condition has reached 80 percent. “Now it’s much better than the previous Sunday. My movement is better now. But indeed, our match preparation has not been optimal,” said Marcus.
“In the future, we want recovery. For departure to Malaysia, you have to practice again. We will go back to learning and training again to prepare for the next tournament,” added Marcus.
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