Indonesian men’s doubles were already miserable at the start when Muhammad Shohibul Fikri / Bagas Maulana and Leo Rolly Carnando / Daniel Marthin lost in the first round of the 2024 Asian Championship.
The first and foremost sadness experienced by Muhammad Shohibul Fikri / Bagas Maulana in the match which was held at the Ningbo Olympic Sports Center Gymnasium, Ningbo, China, Wednesday (10/4/2024).
Fikri/Bagas, who are the eighth seeds, lost to the world number 23 pair, Supak Jomkoh/Kittinupong Kedren (Thailand).
The match initially went in favor of Fikri/Bagas after being able to win the first game with a score of 21-15.
Fikri/Bagas had never lost in a total of four meetings against Jomkoh/Kedren. It looked like the match would end more quickly when BaKri still led 14-12 in the second game.
However, they then fell. After their lead ended, Fikri/Bagas fell behind and lost.
Fikri/Bagas lost with a score of 21-19, 16-21, 17-21.
This defeat meant that Fikri/Bagas had to bury their dream of appearing at the 2024 Paris Olympics because they were required to at least reach the semifinals at the 2024 Asian Championships.
Unfortunately, the bad results for Indonesian men’s doubles continued when it was Leo Rolly Carnando / Daniel Marthin who fell at the hands of other underdogs .
The two-time Indonesian Masters champions were eliminated by the world number 71 pair, Kim Yong-hyuk/Wang Chan from South Korea.
Like Fikri/Bagas, Leo/Daniel actually immediately took control of the game at the start of the match.
They have managed to lead by five points at a score of 9-4. The five-point advantage still lasted until the first game interval.
After the break, Leo/Daniel increasingly had the upper hand by leaving their opponents within six points at 18-12.
Leo’s strike from in front of the net punished the ball from the opponent for game point for 20-12 for the Indonesian pair .
Having stolen a point, Daniel’s attack by releasing a hard punch finally ended the resistance in the first game with a score of 21-13.
Kim/Wang is starting to be able to provide resistance to Leo/Daniel. The second game duel took place at a fairly fast tempo with lots of drive fighting.
Leo/Daniel were ahead with a score of 7-4, but they fell behind when their opponents managed to score four points in a row to change the score to 8-7.
Kim/Wang played patiently enough so that they were able to lead by two points until they entered the second game interval with a score of 11-9.
Leo/Daniel were actually able to equalize the score at 12-12 which remained equally strong until 14-14. However, the opponent again took over for game point with a difference of four points.
The Korean pair also forced a third game even though Leo/Daniel almost equalized the score thanks to three consecutive points.
Entering the final game, Leo/Daniel actually started the match positively after opening the lead with a score of 3-1.
However, once again, Leo/Daniel were again overwhelmed by the pressure exerted by their opponents, causing them to fall behind by one point.
Leo/Daniel made it even more difficult when they were three points behind at 6-9. Having turned things around at 10-9, The Babies fell behind again to 13-17.
Leo/Daniel still fought back by thwarting Kim/Wang’s two match points to score deuce at 20-20. Once again the opponent’s match point was saved at 21-21.
Unfortunately, Leo/Daniel had to admit their opponent’s superiority after being pressured again and Leo’s body was hit hard.
With this result, the Indonesian men’s doubles have fallen first, leaving only one ammunition, namely Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto.
Fajar/Rian will also be the only Indonesian men’s doubles representatives at the 2024 Paris Olympics after Fikri/Bagas and Leo/Daniel failed to win the remaining 1 ticket.
When Fikri/Bagas lost, the mixed doubles, Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari, qualified from the first round of the 2024 Asian Championships to maintain their hopes of appearing at the Paris Olympics.
2024 ASIAN CHAMPIONSHIP RESULTS
- MD: Muhammad Shohibul Fikri / Bagas Maulana (6) vs Supak Jomkoh/Kittinupong Kedren (Thailand) 21-15, 16-21, 17-21
- WD: Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan (China/1) vs Lanny Tria Mayasari/Ribka Sugiarto 15-21, 14-21
- XD: Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari vs Hiroki Midorikawa/Natsu Saito (Japan) 21-13, 14-21, 21-18
- WS: Putri Kusuma Wardani vs Sung Shuo Yun (Taiwan) 12-21, 12-21