I think, the trauma was still there. Apart from their physical condition, I sense they were under pressured during the match & sometimes a bit confused with their game plan. Looking at how minions celebrated after winning 2nd game, & how 2 coaches intensely reminded them (where usually the coaches were calm & trusted it to minions), I know they all really wanted to win this match. It's just not the time yet
Even Kevin cant be champion in his birthday week, like LiuYuchen at IndonesiaOpen during his birthday...
It just means kevin got an earlier birthday present, and Liu will get his birthday present a bit later this week. Still predict Li/Liu will go home with their 2nd title this year
Rest well and come back full refreshed in WC, minions! Updated 02/08/2019 : *(1) Malaysia Masters Super 500 -> Champion *(2) Indonesia Masters Super 500 -> Champion *(3) All England Open Super 1000; 06-10 March ->R1 exit *(4) Malaysia Open Super 750; 02-07 April -> QF exit *(5) Singapore Open Super 500; 09-14 April -> SF exit * Badminton Asia Championships (Individual); 23-28 April -> Silver Medalist Olympics qualification starting : * Sudirman Cup (Mixed Team); 19-26 May -> Bronze Medalist ; Pts: 11,003 ; Total: 11,003 *(6) Indonesia Open Super 1000; 16-21 July -> Champion; Pts: 12,000; Total: 23,003 *(7) Japan Open Super 750; 23-28 July -> Champion; Pts: 11,000; Total: 34,003 *(8) Thailand Open Super 500; 30 July - 04 August -> QF exit; Pts: 5,040; Total: 39,043 - World Championships (Individual); 19-25 August (9) China Open Super 1000; 17-22 Sept (?) Korea Open Super 500; 24-29 Sept (10) Denmark Open Super 750; 15-20 Oct (11) French Open Super 750; 22-27 Oct (12) Fuzhou China Open Super 750; 05-10 Nov (?) Hong Kong Open Super 500; 12-17 Nov - W.T.F; 11-15 Dec *: competed. Pts : Points earned in the tournament Total : Total qualification points earned so far
Articles on minions post match interview in Indonesian. Will try to translate it soon, even if no one interested (Thailand Open 2019) Kelelahan, Kevin/Marcus Finis di Perempat Final (Bangkok, 2/7/2019) The journey of Men's doubles pair Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo/Marcus Fernaldi Gideon in Thailand Open 2019 had to stopped in Quarterfinal. They fell to Hiroyuki Endo/Yuta Watanabe (JPN), with score 17-21, 21-19, 14-21. Kevin/Marcus's performance was not as prime as usual, they made many unforced errors and inaccurate shots. Their attacks failed to break their opponent's defense as Endo/Watanabe's was well known for their solid defense. Thailand Open was their third consecutive tournaments and they had been champions in the two previous tournaments, Blibli Indonesia Open and Daihatsu Yonex Japan Open. "The opponents played really well, did not go down easily. In the third game, we really ran out of energy so our attacks weren't putting enough pressure on them and lacking of other things too. It's okay, the more important thing is that we know what we did wrong and we could learn how to be better in the future," said Kevin. "It must be tiring, we always played tight games. However, we can't make this as the excuses because we trained everyday too. The opponent indeed played well. Our energy was more drained, we must play more patiently because it was not easy to kill the opponents. We shouldn't have played too rushed," Marcus said. In their last encounter, they were also defeated by the number five seed in the final of Badminton Asia Championship 2019. "Endo/Watanabe is a bit different from the other JPN pairs, they tend play safe. In all aspects, they are more or less similar to the other JPN pairs, only they play safer and we didn't pressure them hard enough. We should have taken the first game," Kevin talked about his opponents. Although they had to left the tournament earlier, but Kevin/Marcus expressed their content of their own performances in these three tournaments they played in. The world's number ones had defended two titles of two elite level tournaments, Super 1000 in Indonesia and Super 750 in Japan. "We are pleased with the result. To win two titles of three tournaments, that was more than enough for us. We better focus on World Championship," Kevin said. Kevin/Marcus will fly back to Jakarta to get prepared for the World Championships 2019 held in Basel, Switzerland on 19-25 August 2019. Source : http://m.badmintonindonesia.org/app/information/newsDetail.aspx?/8318
true, they look frustated and confused when endo and yuta keep getting everything back. reminds me when they lose to kamura/sonoda at wc last year, same body language. it will be interesting if they met endo/yuta again at the wc, considering the playing condition there are even slower.
Just re-watched yesterday's match, and read what minions were saying post-match I somehow feel more confident that they will be okay coming WC as long as they are fit and injury free. Unlike in BAC, Endo/Wata had to work so hard to win their match this time. Minions wasted quite a number of points by unforced errors and poor judgment. Anyhow, minions body languages were much better compared to their last encounter. They fought to their last effort. Kevin was still flying right and left in front of the net, but just missing the shuttles unfortunately lol Honestly, I don't know which pair of Endo/Wata or Li/Liu that I want to win today. But all the best for Ko/Shin
Many seeded pairs were already knocked out way before them. so good is good. 23th SS title gotta wait till ChinaOpen.
I feel like the solid defense of endo/wata was the reason they made so many unforced errors and poor judgment, it put some mental pressure on them that they need to work really hard almost every rally to win a point, very few times they can get easy point from the service situation.
I don't know if I see it right, but just by yesterday's match alone, I think Kevin wasn't that confident in the front court. His shots there weren't so deadly like usual. IMO, yuta beat him in that part yesterday. It was completely different look from minions' last match against Li/Liu. Glad to see Kevin improves his backcourt a lot, but to see kevin's superiority in the front court is still a better treat for everyone's eyes. Hopefully if they meet again later, Kevin will claim his area back
I think it was probably the trauma of the last match talking rather than the solid defense just yet. Both were nervous, and misjudged some of the back lines wrongly because of the drift. Kevin looked tensed, I felt the same body language of what I saw him played Li/Liu last week in G1. Though Kevin took his confidence back after G2 against Li/Liu, here somehow both of them felt like they had to finish things much quickly otherwise they could have taken G1 if they were much more relaxed. But coming out of today's match I just felt like they had probably overcome their "trauma". Because in their first two encounters when they weren't yet haunted by that BAC, minions didn't have much problem beating Endo/Wata. I thought it was a good match regardless the result for minions. And glad it happened here than later
