That was 2 years ago. Since last year, Marcus had been almost a weight himself especially in the past several months. Kevin has been the one carrying Marcus and doing double duties especially in slower conditions. Even in Malaysia and Indonesia Masters earlier this year, Marcus wasn't in his optimal fit condition (compared to 2017). Now it's almost certain that the opponents will be targeting him most of the time. Even the commentators have been constantly saying that all pairs should target and play Marcus mainly. I just hope they would work something out. Definitely want to see them on TV court at least twice more than last time
I wonder what will happen if they lose another R1 at Malaysia Open. The confidence will be so low and the doubt will come in. They really have to step up this year, beginning with the Malaysia Open, otherwise the slots for Olympic might as well fall to Ahsan/Setiawan and FajRi.
They have already won 2 Super 500 titles earlier this year. Not a bad start. And losing a first round match to Liu/Zhang, in my opinion, is not something to be that down about as they had lost one too in a Final before. I mean, losing R1 is not exactly a good thing but considering their opponents it wasn't really a downright failure compared to if it was just any lower ranked opponents like last year's losses. Olympics qualification will start at the end of this month, it's a bit too early to talk about the slots yet. Many players will start their campaign in New Zealand Open, but I don't see minions name in it. If they lost Malaysia Open, they just need to win Singapore Open or other tournaments I'd rather they have their 'lows' earlier and have their 'highs' closer to the WC. Last year they had their highs at the beginning and the end of the year instead of WC
Lol, you talk as if minions are declining. Yes, losing in R1 again will raise some doubts. But, minions did exprience their down time, which unfortunately was happened in WC. Don't underestimate minions. They will come back faster than anyone have thought. Hopefully, minions will be at their high when it matters the most.
He does since the start of this partnership. Doesn't take an expert to see which one the special player is.
Who the special? Kevin is the special player, GIdeon is the hardworking type imo. Complement each other well. Well, as for the results, if they didnt lose in R1, they can also lose in R2. I dont think need to bother so much. I mean even if they lost in Final, they wont be happy. Confidence is how you come back from each defeat. Just like how Lee/Jung and Cai/Fu keeps coming back after defeats. What worries me more is in this field they won much more than other pairs so i guess laziness can set in. But being in SF all the time should be good enough for WR1 rankings and keep the big bucks flowing in.
Tomorrow, I will face the on-fire workhorse TPE, Lee/Wang. Who wants to cheer for me? I am so nervous.
Yeah, he looks heavy when he is about to jump and slow to cover. You feel Kevin should play at the back and Gideon at the front more. I see AhsanHendra do that all the time and its actually more effective cause it gives different dimension.
They are not that hard to defeat. Just relaxed and play your usual game and you'll be just fine. Make sure your heavier half be lighter on his footwork and be alert of anything.
You are lucky I didn't need to slap your face lol The match went surprisingly very fast and lop-sided all the way. Could be Lee/Wang was having just an off-day after the many tournaments they had played so far. All minions needed to do was pace down the attacks so the TPE players couldn't feed off any pace from their attacks nor time their defense right therefore not able to turn any defense into any offense. Kevin was so fast though, I had never seen Kevin move this fast for a long time. Even Lee couldn't react fast enough to him, surprisingly, as Lee himself should be a very fast player too. Anyway, glad they made this through quite convincingly. Still many mistakes but I hope they would get better the more they advance further.
Their next opponent will be Inoue/Kaneko. They should be able to win in straight sets. If the scenario goes right, they will meet Fajar/Rian in QF. An interesting one since it will be held outside of Istora.
I remembered InoueKaneko almost beat Minions in AsianGames. They led 10-4 or something in the 3rd. Wasnt that their last meeting? I think there is 1 more meet that goes to rubber. So it has gone to 3 games last couple of match. Can be tight today.
Is it that hard for kevin to be tactically discipline the whole match ? it's like 2 different kevin who played against inoue/kaneko today. on the other hand, it seems like gideon are back on form.
Here's what we've been waiting for, minions vs fajar/rian. I'm just hoping for a good match like the last time they met.
At least we won't have to cross our arm nor glaring at the monitor for Kevin to be 100% committed to the match.
Think there is an improvement of their form based on the first 2 matches. Gideon mainly being more proactive at the front court. Though I still think their attack lacks sting from the rear court, we will see when they face more solid opponents who can play tactical lifts to reset their attack
That's what I feel too. we can even see that in the match against Inoue/Kaneko today (second game), minions having a hard time to score point when the japanese decide to use the backcourt more instead of challenging them in the flat game. Anyway, it's gonna be an interesting battle between minions vs fajar rian tomorrow, I feel like fajar rian has the tools to actually beat minions. so we'll see how the match goes tomorrow..
