Korea Open 2023: Taiwan’s Doubles Bend, Fajar/Rian Wins Quarter-Final Tickets

Jakarta, Beritasatu.com – Indonesian men’s doubles, Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto, won a ticket to the quarter-finals of the Korea Open 2023 after stopping the Taiwanese pair, Lu Ching Yao/Yang Po Han, Thursday (20/7/2023).

Playing at Jinnam Stadium, Yeosu, South Korea, the world number one men’s doubles defeated Lu/Yang with a score of 21-19 and 21-15. Fajar/Rian needed 42 minutes to beat the world’s 15th ranked men’s doubles.

This victory increased Fajar/Rian’s advantage over Lu/Yang to 6-1 in their seven meetings.

“First of all, thank God, today we were able to finish the match smoothly, without injury and we were given a win,” said Rian.

According to Rian, the opponent actually played quite well, especially in the first game. The Taiwanese pair continued to press with balls drives.

Rian added that they were still adapting to the field because yesterday they had not played fully in the first half. “Still learning with wind conditions and shuttlecock. That’s also what makes us still make our own mistakes. This is our evaluation for the next match,” said Rian.

According to Fajar, Lu/Yang do have power strong but they can overcome it because they meet enough times.

“We all know this Taiwanese couple has power who are very strong but because we have often met and we also watched their match against Leo (Rolly Carnando)/Daniel (Marthin) so earlier we tried to dampen down by patiently arranging attacks and giving lots of fine ball placements,” said Fajar.

According to Fajar, the Taiwanese doubles also seemed to be having a hard time dealing with the long serves he did. “I saw that the opponent was guarding the front once and in the end maybe they weren’t too ready,” said Fajar again.

“We have to maintain focus and stamina. Having entered the top eight, these factors are very influential. Who is more prepared, he will win,” he added.

However, Fajar/Rian’s steps to win a place in the quarter-finals failed to be followed by the Indonesian representative, Putri Kusuma Wardani. The women’s steps were halted after being defeated by the world’s second ranked women’s singles, An Se Young, 7-21, 12-21 in 33 minutes.

Two Indonesian mixed doubles have also been eliminated in the previous match in the round of 16, Thursday (20/7/2023). Dejan Ferdinansyah/Gloria Emanuelle Widjaja surrendered to the hosts’ doubles who were also the sixth seeds Seo Seung Jae/Chae Yu Jung, 14-21, 22-20, and 11-21. Dejan/Gloria gave up after fighting for 1 hour and 7 minutes.

Defeat was also experienced by other Red and White representatives, Praveen Jordan/Melati Daeva Oktavianti. They were stopped after surrendering to the world number one mixed doubles from China, Zheng Si Wei/Huang Ya Qiong, 16-21, 17-21 in 33 minutes.

Another Indonesian representative in women’s doubles, Gregoria Mariska Tunjung, also failed to advance to the next round. The Wonogiri-born player was eliminated after surrendering to the co-host, Sim Yu Jin, 20-22, 17-21, in 36 minutes.

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