Indonesia Open: Naraoka Wins a Hard Slog
Put a slow shuttle and Kodai Naraoka together, and it becomes a trudge in the sand. Anders Antonsen, playing catch-up in the third game of a long opening round match at the KAPAL API GROUP Indonesia Open 2023, tried…
· DEV SUKUMAR
Put a slow shuttle and Kodai Naraoka together, and it becomes a trudge in the sand. Anders Antonsen, playing catch-up in the third game of a long opening round match at the KAPAL API GROUP Indonesia Open 2023, tried to get the crowd involved, looking to feed off their energy. It almost worked.
But Naraoka, with his stonewalling style and depending solely on keeping the shuttle to the back, survived with his error-free game, challenging Antonsen to find the winners. That proved difficult, and Antonsen came away wondering if he’d employed the right tactics .
“Today was a physical game, the shuttles were extremely slow. Both of us were struggling to finish the rallies. He chose to go the route of playing everything back, and I was the one trying to score some points. I don’t know if I should’ve gone the other way and just played rally style. I tried to create the game and I don’t know if it was a good idea or not,” said Antonsen, of the 82-minute match.