Indonesian badminton men’s DOUBLE, Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan, had to be willing to leave the 2024 French Open following failing in the first round which took place at the Porte De La Chapelle Arena, Paris, France, Wednesday (6/3).
The pair nicknamed The Daddies had to suffer defeat from host representatives Lucas Corvee/Ronan Labar with 21-19, 17-21 and 19-21 because their condition was less than optimal.
“This is our first match following the last Malaysia Open. The preparations were good, but a week before leaving I had a bad flu,” said Hendra in PP PBSI’s official statement, Wednesday (6/3).
“Ahsan was also not fit when he arrived here. We felt that his strength had not yet returned to 100%,” he continued.
The match was actually tight from the start of the first game. Both Ahsan/Hendra and Corvee/Labar took turns winning the points, until finally the Indonesian doubles managed to secure the first game.
In the second game, The Daddies, who had led the match, were held to a double draw by France. Corvee/Labar forced Ahsan/Hendra to play the deciding game when they managed to steal the second game.
Also read: Hendra/Ahsan withdraw from Malaysia Open 2024 due to injury
Ahsan/Hendra, who were left behind at the start of the third game, managed to catch up on points to equalize. However, Corvee/Labar took the points in crisis conditions at the end of the decisive game to finish the match with a win.
“The opponent played very well. We tried to continue attacking but it was very difficult to penetrate their defense,” said Hendra.
Ahsan/Hendra last played a full match at the 2023 China Masters, which was held in November. They had to be eliminated in the round of 16 following losing in two straight games to host representatives Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chan.
They then took part in the 2024 Malaysia Open in mid-January, but the world number 13 in men’s doubles decided to withdraw because Ahsan suffered an injury in the second game of the round of 16.
The Dadies will compete at the All England following they entered the draw and will face world number one doubles Satwiksairaj Rankireddy/Chirag Shetty in the first round of the BWF Super1000 tournament which will take place on March 12-17. (Ant/Z-1)
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