Indonesia can still rely on their formidable pool of players after doubles Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo have confirmed their absence from the Yonex Thailand Open 2021.The pair was forced to miss out on the opening Asian leg in January which includes three tournaments in Thailand after Kevin has yet to recover from COVID-19.
Kevin was tested positive for COVID-19 after carrying out a swab test on December 20. However, despite carrying out self-quarantine, he was still declared positive after another testing that was done on December 31.
Despite the absence of Marcus-Kevin which often the main hope of winning the title for Indonesia considering their status as the world’s No 1 men’s doubles pair, the country still has a chance to win with their other top players.
In the men’s doubles, Indonesia has two top seeds which are Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (main pix) and Fajar Alfian-Muhamad Rian Ardianto as Japanese pairs (Takeshi Kamura-Keigo Sonoda and Hiroyuki Endo-Yuta Watanabe) withdrew from the competition.
In the men’s singles chances for Indonesia’s Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (5th seed) and Jonatan Christie (6th seed) are bright as world No 1, Kento Momota was forced to miss out due to COVID-19 positive.
For mixed doubles, high hopes rest on Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva Oktavianti (2nd seed) following their success in winning the All England last year.
As for women’s doubles, Greysia Polii-Apriyani Rahayu has a great chance of winning their first Super 1000 level tournament following the absence of several big names from Japan and China.
Thailand is scheduled to host three major BWF tournaments starting with the Jan 12-17 Yonex Thailand Open. It will be followed by the Jan 19-24 Toyota Thailand Open and the HSBC BWF World Tour Finals 2020 from Jan 27-31. – Oleh Siti Zafirah Kamal
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