Lessons from Indonesia’s defeat at the 2023 Sudirman Cup Page all

KOMPAS.com – Indonesia must be eliminated from the 2023 Sudirman Cup after losing 3-0 to hosts China.

This result also buried Indonesia’s dream of winning the first Sudirman Cup in more than 30 years.

It is known that Indonesia last won the Sudirman Cup in 1989.

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So, what happened to the Indonesian players so that they were unable to achieve maximum results?

Admit the mentality is lacking

Indonesian badminton team manager Armand Darmadji said the players actually had high motivation to win every game.

Unfortunately, they can’t deliver finishing touch good at critical points. In this case, Armand focuses more on non-technical factors, such as the mentality of the players.

“Mentally, we have to pump again, the host factor is also very big against the opponent’s game that we faced yesterday,” Armand said to Kompas.comSaturday (20/5/2023).

Regarding the mixed doubles selection that was handed down in the quarter-finals, Armand said that it was hoped that the opposing players could not read the Indonesian players’ game.

Also read: Sudirman Cup 2023 Semifinal Schedule: Malaysia Vs Korea, China Vs Japan

This is because all the mixed doubles options that Indonesia has in the Sudirman Cup are all below the level of Chinese players.

“So we thought at the time of determining the players, agreed to try a combination pair, where the pair was paired for the first time on an international stage,” he explained.

“We see that they (China) always study everything track record match, with this new combination they are expected to be completely unable to read us,” he continued.

As a result, the pair Rinov Rivaldy/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja managed to offset the Chinese pair in two game.

Unfortunately, Armand once again highlighted finishing touch both are suboptimal.

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Wrong strategy

Meanwhile, Indonesian badminton legend Christian Hadinata said that Indonesia’s failure in the Sudirman Cup could not be separated from the strategy used against Thailand in the group stage.

It is known, Indonesia was defeated 3-0 by Thailand so it failed to lock status as group winner.

In fact, if it manages to win the group, Indonesia has the potential to meet lighter opponents in the quarter-finals.

With runner-up status, Indonesia finally met China in the quarter-finals.

“The line-up against Thailand was a bit different. In my opinion, the best should be the choice, because that determines the group winner or runner-up,” said Christian when contacted separately on Saturday.

“Here we were conceded, immediately lost 3-0 like we won just one, there are many possibilities to win the group, because our men’s and women’s doubles are quite strong above them,” he continued.

Also read: Forced to Withdraw from All England 2021, This is the Story of Indonesian Badminton Athletes

Christian also highlighted the failure of the Indonesian players to finish the match after being far ahead.

According to him, the players who excel far from the opponent are in a hurry to finish the match.

As a result, their focus and concentration also decreased when they were far superior.

In terms of the quality of the players, he doesn’t see mentality as a problem in this Sudirman Cup event.

“Actually, with the quality and flying hours of the players, mentality shouldn’t be a problem. They have often met in individual tournaments. Things like that shouldn’t be a problem,” he explained.

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