The pair who won 2015 OUE Singapore Open are Angga Pratama and Ricky Karanda Suwardi, they are fighting for Indo no.2 spot against Gideon/Kevin but based on their latest head to head simulation match for Sudirman Cup, Gideon/Kevin beat Angga/Ricky 21-9, 21-18. no.1 still Ahsan/Setiawan
I believe depending on whom the team INA is facing, we will see which pair to play. Angga/Ricky rose and won recent Singaporean Open vs. Korean, Japan and finally China pair in the final carries more weight than a simulation match. I would be surprised if Gideon/Kevin will ever play at all in Sudirman Cup. They will probably play only when the other pair is injured.
On Monday, INA vs. ENG (ENG's MD pair likely: Chris Adcock/Andrew Ellis) On Wednesday, INA vs. DEN (DEN's MD pair 100% for sure: Mads Conrad Petersen/Mads Pieler Kolding)
Yes Angga/Ricky rose to the occasion and in tip-top condition during Singapore Open, I witness all their matches in that tournament but their performance is unstable, in recent Bonny China Master, they lost in round 1 to unseeded Taiwanese pair. To be fair, both pairs are very good but with different playing style and game tactics, thus the no.2 rank in Team Indonesia is open for both pairs to grab. Below are the performance/results comparison between Gideon/Kevin and Angga/Ricky: 1. Yonex All England 2015 Gideon/Kevin = Quarterfinals Angga/Ricky = Round 2 2. Swiss Open 2015 Gideon/Kevin = Semi Finals Angga/Ricky = Round 2 3. Maybank Malaysia Open 2015 Gideon/Kevin = Round 1 Angga/Ricky = Quarterfinals 4. OUE Singapore Open 2015 Gideon/Kevin = Round 2 Angga/Ricky = Champion 4. Bonny China Masters Gideon/Kevin = Round 1 Angga/Ricky = Round 1 As for Sudirman Cup, it's not a big surprise if they field Gideon/Kevin for some of the MD matches even other pairs are in good shape, you can't be too sure.
Wow....against the Denmark's Mads pair, look like Ahsan/Setiawan have to play. Favorable head to head records to the latter 0-2.
The Danish pair is on the rise, I think even Ahsan/Hendra would have hard time playing against them The head to head are from 2014. This year, Mads are playing better
Congratulations and well done to Gideon/Kevin for winning the 2015 Chinese Taipei Grand Prix with convincing results 21-12, 21-8 against Hoon Thien How/Lim Khim Wah from Malaysia.
Is anyone else impressed with Kevin Sanjaya? I just watched him beat LEE Sheng Mu , TSAI Chia Hsin with shots no one else can or would do at that level. Hopefully, I can watch him play tomorrow on the TV court in HD.
Sanjaya's racket skills and his whole package reminds me of Wijaya, Gunawan or Setiawan. He got the talent of a champion and carries the hope for men's doubles legacy for Indonesian, but his current partner Gideon still often choke under pressure and committing most of the errors, so if they can work more on this, we'll see them taking more titles for sure in the future.
I think it's the reverse, Gideon is the more safe player and commit less errors. Kevin has the complete package but is inconsistent with his movement and shots, making the opponent AND his partner confused. Kevin Gideon is patient enough though and has a similar experience when he was said to be the less player in the Agripinna-Gideon partnership. This pair also has the problem as they don't seem to communicate well enough and their play is at their best when they have the upper hand but can't handle the pressure of being attacked.
I don't think this partnership can be an Elite (Top 5) pair. I view Kevin as a very interesting player. He's not quite a HS, LYD, ZN at the front, might be physically too short to get there, but his racket skills and speed gets him close. I do think he's has the physicals tool to be an Elite back court partner, but I don't think he wants to be a back court player. Which is why I find this pair to be miscast, because Gideon is not quite powerful enough in the back and not good enough in the front to pressure and consistently win points. I would love to see what would happen if a coach was able to convince him to play in the back court more and partner him with a front court player like Angga Pratama. That being said I really enjoy this pair's 200 kph playing style. Tomorrow's final should be fun to watch as we have 2 of the more creative players and I can finally watch Kevin play in semi-HD, I don't know why the non-TV court is shot in 360p and why the TV court is not in at least 1080p/60fps!
