BAC 2023, Ahsan Fights Fear and Injury

Indonesian badminton player from the men’s doubles number, Mohammad Ahsan admits that he has not recovered 100% from the injury he suffered. Even so, Ahsan and his partner, Hendra Setiawan, continued to compete and try to appear free at the Asia Badminton Asia Championships (BAC 2023).

In the first round, the Daddies, nicknamed Hendra/Ahsan, successfully finished the resistance from the host pair from the United Arab Emirates Dev Ayyappan/Dhiren Ayyappan. In the match that was held at the Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall, Dubai, United Arab Emirates (UAE), Wednesday (26/4/2023) Hendra / Ahsan won two straight games 21-14, 21-17.

“Thank God for today’s match. The opponent from the host played well, so we have to quickly adapt to the field and the shuttlecock,” Ahsan said after the match, quoted from a written statement by PP PBSI.

Previously, Ahsan suffered a knee injury that he got in the 2023 All England final. Even though he claimed to have improved, Ahsan said he was still afraid when he entered the field.

“Earlier, when I entered the field, I was still afraid because the condition was not 100%. Hopefully it won’t hurt more and I can continue to perform optimally,” added Ahsan.

Meanwhile, Hendra Setiawan admits that he is also still adapting to field conditions. The gold medalist at the 2008 Beijing Olympics admitted that he was happy to be able to play against an opponent from a country that was less popular in the world of badminton.

“Today we didn’t have any significant obstacles, just adaptation to the fast shuttlecock,” said Hendra.

“Of course it’s nice to be able to see and play against players from countries whose badminton traditions are not good or less popular. This is their chance to experience a pretty big championship too. I hope that in the future they will keep their spirits up and good players can emerge from there,” he added.

In the second round, the Daddies will face Chinese doubles, Ren Xiangyu/Tan Xiangyu, who in the first round defeated the Japanese pair Akira Koga/Taichi Saito, 21-19, 21-17.

Indonesia itself has passed three representatives in the men’s doubles number to the second round of BAC 2023. Apart from the Daddies, the pair Bagas Maulana/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri also qualified after winning two straight games from Singapore’s Andy Kwek/Loh Kean Hean, 21-19, 21-15 .

While the world number one pair Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto successfully advanced to the second round after getting rid of the Chinese doubles, He Jiting/Zhou Haodong with a score of 21-16, 21-18.