INDONESIA MASTERS R16 – Not a good day for the seeded

The second half of the Indonesia Masters 2020 was not a good day for the top players.  Appearing under pressure, the top seeds fell while Carolina Marin kept her hopes up for the title.

Story: Naomi Indartiningrum, Badzine Correspondent live in Jakarta
Photos: Jnanesh Salian / Badmintonphoto (live)

The women’s singles star from Spain, Carolina Marin (photo), successfully advanced to the quarter-finals of the Indonesia Masters 2020 tournament which was held at Istora Senayan on Thursday.

The quarter-final spot was secured by Marin after she won an emotionally charged match against Nozomi Okuhara from Japan in 49 minutes. She won quite easily with a score of 21-13, 21-15.

“I feel really happy today. I think my performance is really good and better than today. I was able to play fast, which is a good way to play Okuhara,” said the Rio Olympic gold medallist.

“[Okuhara] tried hard since the beginning till the end. I always need to do my best to beat her,” she added.

With this victory, Marin is now one step closer to the final round, the phase she reached last year at the Indonesia Masters, when the current world #10 had to settle for being runner-up after suffering an ACL injury to her right knee.

In another key women’s singles match, Pusarla Venkata Sindhu was eliminated earlier after being defeated by Sayaka Takahashi (photo) in three games, in a match lasting 66 minutes.

Both players played neatly and had a chance of winning. Takahashi, who played with high consistency, was able to lock the victory 16-21, 21-16, 21-19.

“I think it was anybody’s match.  Both of us played really well. Unfortunately I put several unforced errors and mistakes in the end,” explained Sindhu.

“After I won the first game, I took the lead in the second game but then she took it. I should have better control than this and be more patient,” add the Rio Olympic silver medallist.

Although Pusarla Venkata Sindhu (pictured left) failed to get a good result on this tournament, she didn’t fail to keep her focus for the 2020 Tokyo Olympics.

The second round of the Indonesia Masters 2020 is arguably the “grave” of the women’s doubles seeds.  First, it was Chen Qingchen / Jia Yifan were eliminated, then immediately afterward, Yuki Fukushima / Sayaka Hirota also needed to head home early.

Competing in the second round, the second seeds from Japan lost in three games against the Denmark’s top women’s doubles pair Maiken Fruergaard / Sara Thygesen (pictured below) by scores of 18-21, 23-21, 21-10.

From the first game, the game was intense and tight. The Danes even took the lead several times in the opener before the world #3 managed to regroup.  Still, Fukushima/Hirota just could not get out from under the pressure and dropped the second, then were left far behind in the third game and the match belonged to the Danish pair.

“Of course we are very happy with this result. It was not easy but we did it. The second game was the most difficult for us but it gave us a lot of confidence for the third game,” explained Fruergaard.

“I think we know what we are good at and we just try to do that all the time. We just trust our skills but in the future we still need to improve physically. The Japanese can always run all the time,” Thygesen added with a big smile on her face.

In the previous match, the tournament lost its 3rd top seed – after Kento Momota withdrew and Chen Yufei was beaten on Wednesday.  Women’s doubles pair Chen Qingchen / Jia Yifan, were also forced out in the second round. They again lost to Japan’s, Nami Matsuyama / Chiharu Shida, who had beaten them at the same stage last week in Malaysia.

With the elimination of Chen/Jia, followed by Fukushima/Hirota, Japan still has the opportunity to continue the women’s doubles domination of the Indonesia Masters 2020 through two other representatives, Nami Matsuyama / Chiharu Shida and the 2016 Olympic gold medallists, Misaki Matsutomo / Ayaka Takahashi.

However, China, which engineered an all-Chinese final in Kuala Lumpur last Sunday, is now completely without representation in the final 8.  In addition to Chen/Jia and the 3 pairs who lost in the first round, Malaysia Masters runners-up Du Yue / Li Yinhui lost to Thailand’s Puttita Supajirakul / Sapsiree Taerattanachai (pictured left) in straight games.

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