‘Daddies’ To Take On ‘Minions’ – Indonesia Open: Day 5
It will be the ‘Daddies’ versus the ‘Minions’ at the BLIBLI Indonesia Open 2019 tomorrow – the first time since 2005 that the event is seeing an all-Indonesian men’s doubles final.
· DEV SUKUMAR
Back in 2005, one of the Daddies – Hendra Setiawan – had partnered Markis Kido to victory over Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto. Tomorrow he will once relive an all-Indonesian final, albeit with a different partner and against different opponents.
The contrast between the two semifinal victories couldn’t have been starker. The Minions – Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo – were electric on court as they destroyed Li Jun Hui and Liu Yuchen 21-9 21-13 – making barely a mistake in the process.
In contrast, Ahsan and Setiawan nearly made a hash of their semifinal against Japan’s Takuro Hoki/Yugo Kobayashi. The Japanese, bustling with confidence, had established their early dominance with the Indonesians unable to penetrate their defence and making numerous errors up front.