Failing at BAC, Febriana/Amalia Focuses on Winning SEA Games Gold

– Women’s doubles Febriana Dwipuji Kusuma/Amalia Cahaya Pratiwi are now focusing on winning the SEA Games gold medal after being eliminated in the quarter-finals of the Badminton Asia Championships or Badminton Asia Championships (BAC), Thursday (28/4/2023).

Playing at Sheikh Rashid Bin Hamdan Indoor Hall, Al Nasr Club, Dubai, Febriana/Amalia, were stopped in doubles by Thailand, Jongkolphan Kititharakul/Rawinda Prajongjai, 21-16, 18-21, and 11-21.

“Our homework ahead is how to restore focus and get out of pressure when we get into the opponent’s game pattern. That must be honed more. After this, we want to calm our minds while recovery then preparation for the SEA Games,” said Amalia.

“We are determined to contribute gold to Indonesia,” said the player who was born in Sukoharjo, Central Java.

As for the double match against Thailand in the quarter-finals, Amalia revealed, “In the second game we played less calmly and made many unforced errors and we felt our focus had dropped so our opponents took advantage of our carelessness.”

“Actually, we have prepared everything well, including our physical condition, but earlier when our opponents accelerated our tempo, it was difficult for us to keep up. They were faster than us,” said Amalia, who is now 21 years old.

The failed attempt to restore focus was also revealed by Febriana. “In the third game we tried to restore focus and play like in the first game again but it didn’t work. Meanwhile, the opponent was playing better and his mentality was getting better,” said the Jember-born athlete.

However, the 22-year-old badminton player still takes lessons from his exhaustion at BAC 2023. “Alhamdulillah, in this tournament our performance has improved, especially from the pattern of play,” he explained.

Failure to reach the BAC semifinals also occurred in the two mixed doubles Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari and Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti.

Rivov/Pitha lost eighth seed from Malaysia, Goh Soon Huat/Lai Shevon Jemie, 17-21, 21-15, and 19-21. The 14th ranked double fell after 55 minutes of fighting.

Meanwhile, the other mixed doubles, Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti, failed to advance to the semifinals. They stopped after being defeated by the first seeds Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong, 11-21, 17-21. Praveen/Melati gave up after 30 minutes of fighting.