Indonesia men’s doubles shuttlers Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto in action against England’s Ben Lane-Sean Vendy during the group match of Thomas Cup Finals at Hi-Tech Sports Centre in Chengdu, China on Saturday. — IZZRAFIQ ALIAS/The Star
CHENGDU: Indonesia are missing the legendary Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan in the Thomas Cup Finals this time and this has left Fajar Alfian-Rian Ardianto shouldering the responsibility as the country’s most senior men’s doubles pair.
Fajar-Rian, who are currently ranked No. 7 in the world, acknowledged that they faced a tough task to fill the void left behind by Ahsan, 36 and Hendra, 39 and another former pair Marcus Fernaldi-Kevin Sanjaya but are embracing the challenge.
Fajar and Rian will get to show their mettle today when Indonesia take on China in the final in a bid to win their 15th title.
Hendra had been a mainstay in the team since making his debut in the 2006 edition in Sendai, Japan, along with former partner Markis Kido while Ahsan has played in every edition of the team meet since he was selected for the team in 2010 in Kuala Lumpur.
Hendra-Ahsan were part of the team that captured the title in the 2020 edition in Aarhus, Denmark.
“This time, Indonesia are without our seniors like Ahsan-Hendra and Marcus-Kevin and it’s left to the current generation to step up,” said Fajar.
“We need to prove that after their eras, Indonesian men’s doubles pairs can still be successful.
“We hope our teammates Shohibul (Fikri)-Bagas (Maulana) and Leo (Rolly)-Daniel (Marthin) can also shoulder this responsibility with us.”
Fajar played his part well in helping Indonesia reach the semi-finals of the team meet.
The 29-year-old was surprisingly combined with Daniel in the second doubles and justified the selection by beating South Korea’s Kim Won-ho-Ki Dong-ju 21-12, 21-13 to give his team a 3-1 win in the last eight at the Hi-Tech Zone Sports Center on Friday.
The other points for Indonesia were delivered by Anthony Ginting and Jonatan Christie in the first and second singles respectively.
Fajar was pleased to deliver the winning point for the team with Daniel.
“Daniel and I might not be regular partners but we still have good chemistry and we showed it in the match,” said Fajar.
“We train together and our playing styles are similar.
“Daniel’s smash is really powerful and I complement him well by setting up chances for him with my netplay.”
Yesterday Fajar-Rian fought brilliantly to beat reigning Olympic champions Lee Yang-Wang Chi-lin 16-21, 21-19, 21-18 in 63 minutes to propel Indonesia into their third consecutive final in the Thomas Cup Finals.
Earlier, Anthony Ginting gave the team the lead with a superb 21-18, 21-19 win over Chou Tien-chen in the first singles.
Reigning All-England and Asian champion Jonatan Christie then sealed the 3-0 win for the team by coming out on top 21-11, 21-16 over Wang Tzu-wei.
