PETALING JAYA: Shuttlers Leo Rolly-Daniel Marthin are set to be a huge threat again in the men’s doubles after superbly turning around their form by successfully defending the Indonesian Masters title.
The home pair, who are ranked No. 11 in the world, had struggled for consistency after winning back-to-back titles in Jakarta and the Thailand Masters in Bangkok last year.
Leo-Daniel suffered first round exits in both the Malaysian and Indian Opens before rising to the occasion magnificently in Jakarta to clinch the crown much to the delight of their passionate fans.
The pair stunned Denmark’s No. 4 Kim Astrup-Anders Skaarup Rasmussen 21-12, 20-22, 21-11 in the final on Sunday.
It was sweet revenge for Leo-Daniel after losing tamely 16-21, 10-21 to the Danish pair in the Malaysian tourney.
The former also did well to come from behind to topple their teammates and world No. 7 Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto 19-21, 21-14, 21-17 in the last four.
Daniel broke down in tears after the final and dedicated his win to his late father, who sadly passed away in a car accident in December.
“Thank God for allowing me to make my father proud in heaven,” said Daniel via social media.
Leo attributed their great run in the tournament to the fans’ support.
“We have the best fans, it’s hard to find this type of support and atmosphere elsewhere,” said Leo in a post-match interview with the Badminton World Federation (BWF).
Leo-Daniel’s win continued Indonesia’s proud record in the competition where a homester has won at least one title in every edition since the tournament’s inception in 2010 except in 2021.
It was also a much improved performance from Indonesia overall after none of the country’s shuttlers made it past the quarter-finals in both the Malaysian and Indian tourneys.
In men’s singles, world No. 4 Anthony Ginting came close to making it to the final before narrowly going down to Canada’s world No. 24 Brian Yang.
