INDONESIA OPEN 2016 Day 3 – No revenge for Ginting

Anthony Ginting was as close as he could have been but could not produce the upset over his Thomas Cup nemesis Jan Jorgensen.

By Naomi Indartiningrum, Badzine Correspondent live in Jakarta.  Photos: Badmintonphoto (live)

It’s barely been a week since the final tie of the 2016 Thomas Cup, but already we were presented with a grudge match between the men’s singles players who did battle for Indonesia and Denmark: Anthony Sinisuka Ginting and Jan O Jorgensen (pictured). Ginting, who lost to Jorgensen on that fateful May day, had high hopes of taking revenge against the Dane who had helped block Indonesia from taking its 14th title.

The 19-year-old Indonesian started the match very bravely, attacking from the word go, while Jorgensen just played his usual game. Buoyed by the ample cheers from home supporters, Ginting took the lead several times and got to game point first when he led 20-17 but the 2015 runner-up from Denmark pushed hard to save the game point and win 22-20.

“Actually I learned a lot from our first meeting in the Thomas Cup about the way he plays and about his weaknesses,” Ginting said after the match.  “During the match today, I already knew how to handle it but at the critical points I panicked and was not that patient and was in a rush to finish the game.

“He’s always stable just the same like when we met before last week. He really knows how to read my condition. When I was panicked and nervous, he rushed to get the serve in play very fast.  That’s why several times I asked him to redo the service.”

The second game started the same as the first game. Anthony Ginting (pictured right) again took the lead after finding success with some hard smashing but it was another bout of nervousness that left him unable to convert his game points into game-winning points. The Indonesian failed to avenge his Thomas Cup loss when he dropped the second game 23-25.

“Obviously it was a very tricky match. I think he really wanted to win against me on his home ground and he did a very good job of it. He is a very young player and will be one for the future,” said Jorgensen.

“To be honest my preparation for this tournament was really, really bad. I haven’t had any practice since the European Championships and that’s almost 4 weeks now. I have been struggling with an injured hip. Actually, it feels good now.  I’m getting old and my hip is not happy with all the long matches. I tried to switch to a more attacking game especially when I play in a hall like Istora Senayan,” he added

Jan O Jorgensen will continue his journey in this tournament and has a big chance to win the title as his rivals Chen Long and Kento Momota are both missing.  Chen Long had to withdraw for the tournament because of a hip injury while last year’s champion Momota is still under suspension by his national association.

“Talking about the chance to win, I think it’s the same because when the top players are down, some other players will rise. Everybody can turn into a good player. Of course, missing Chen Long is a loss but I really want to see Momota back here.  I hope he could be back very soon,” said the 2014 champion.

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