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The Indonesian Uber Cup team poses after the Uber Cup final match at the Chengdu Hi Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium, China, Sunday (5/5/2024). Even though they lost to China, the performance of the “Red and White” women’s team while in Chengdu received a lot of praise.
CHENGDU, SUNDAY – The journey of the women’s badminton team Indonesia in the Thomas and Uber Cup Championship ended in defeat to China. However, the performance of the “Red and White” squad received a lot of praise.
Indonesia lost 0-3 to the home team in the top women’s team match competing for the Uber Cup at the Chengdu Hi Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium, Sunday (5/5/2024). This was the best result for the Indonesian women’s team since they last reached the same stage at the Thomas and Uber Cup Championship in Jakarta in 2008. In front of the crowd at Istora at that time, the Indonesian women also lost to China with the same score.
The defeats of the three Indonesian representatives in Chengdu came from Chinese players ranked in the top ten in the world, namely the second ranked women’s singles, Chen Yu Fei, He Bing Jiao (6), and the world number one women’s doubles, Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yifan. China also won the Uber Cup for the 16th time since participating in this biennial championship in 1984.
Read also: Uber Indonesia vs China Final: Ester Loses, China Wins Uber Cup
Gregoria lost to Chen with a score of 7-21, 16-21, followed by defeat Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti/Rebekah Sugiarto from Chen/Jia 11-21, 8-21. After that, Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo gave hope that the final would last more than three matches by giving tough resistance to the sixth ranked player, He Bing Jiao. Despite playing well, Ester lost 21-10, 15-21, 17-21.
The Fadia/Ribka formation was introduced in this final to replace Apriyani Rahayu/Fadia. National training women’s doubles coach Eng Hian said that Apriyani’s injury condition had not fully recovered so she could not be forced to play in the final.
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Women’s doubles Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti/Ribka Sugiarto in action against Chen Qing Chen/Jia Yi Fan (China) in the second match of the Uber Cup final at the Chengdu Hi Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium, China, Sunday (5/5/2024). Chen/Jia won with a score of 21-11, 21-8.
The match against Chen/Jia was a reunion for Fadia/Ribka. They paired up from July 2019 to January 2022 with the best results being semi-finalists in the Hylo Open Super 500 in 2021 and quarter-finals in the Asian Championship in January 2022.
The Asian Championship was Fadia/Ribka’s last stage until Fadia was paired with Apriyani because Greysia, Apriyani’s previous partner, retired as an athlete. The Fadia/Ribka duet also appeared at the 2020 Uber Aarhus Cup.
“Just now I remembered the moment the couple and Rebekah had in Aarhus. “I didn’t expect to be able to play in the Uber final with Rebekah because we both fought from childhood, from the club to now making history together,” said Fadia.
What Indonesia achieved in the Uber Cup this time was the result of good teamwork.
However, facing Chen/Jia is not an easy task. The four-time world champion in women’s doubles appeared aggressive with any opponent even though the pair they were facing was below them. This attitude shows the athlete’s professionalism.
Read also: Two “Red and White” Teams in the Final, Have a Chance to Match the Titles of Thomas and Uber
“Their experience and mentality are very good, moreover, they have often appeared in team finals, while this is our first. “This is a valuable lesson for us,” said Fadia.
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Gregoria Mariska Tunjung’s women’s singles expression in the Uber Cup final match against Chen Yu Fei (China) at the Chengdu Hi Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium, China, Sunday (5/5/2024). Gregoria lost with a score of 7-21, 16-21.
Gregoria and Ester, who appeared in the first and third matches, also learned to deal with the pressure of carrying the country’s name in the world team championship final. Despite being the most experienced in the Indonesian Uber Cup team, this is the first time Gregoria has experienced appearing in the final.
“Yesterday, you could say I played quite well, that makes me have expectations to play well today. However, that actually made it difficult for me, not physically but feeling tired in my mind. “On the other hand, the opponent can play very well with pressure as the host,” said Gregoria.
Read also: Waiting for the Blessings of the “Underdog” Uber Indonesia Team in the Top Party
Even though he was disappointed because he couldn’t play well in the final, Gregoria was grateful and expressed his pride in being part of the Indonesian Uber Cup team this year. “I am in a compact team, which can build good cooperation. I believe that solidarity is what makes us here today. “In the 2024 Uber Cup final,” he said.
Praise for their solidarity and fighting power emerged from Indonesian badminton fans via social media, as well as from former athletes and athletes from other countries. Chen Yu Fei, who opened her team’s victory, praised Gregoria during her performance in Chengdu.
“He’s beaten good players here and I’ve lost to him too. “So, in this match, I tried to focus, not think about many things,” said Chen in an interview in the mixed zone as shown in Chinese media, CGTN.
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Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo against He Bing Jiao (China) in the third match of the Uber Cup final at Chengdu Hi Tech Zone Sports Center Gymnasium, China, Sunday (5/5/2024). Jiao won with a score of 10-21, 21-15, 21-17.
Greysia, through uploads on her social media account, assessed that the achievement of the Indonesian Uber Cup shows that Indonesian women’s badminton is able to speak at the world level after being underestimated for so long.
Former British badminton player Gillian Clark, who is a tournament commentator, also repeatedly praised Indonesian women. He said that Ester had good playing technique. “What Indonesia achieved in the Uber Cup this time was the result of good teamwork,” he said.
Another commentator, Steen Pedersen, said that Gregoria had led Indonesia to appear in the final. Pedersen mentioned this considering that Gregoria had the status of being the first single to play in the first match.
On the way to the final, Indonesia beat the fourth seed, Thailand, in the quarter-finals 3-0. After that, Gregoria, Ester and Komang Ayu Cahya Dewi made Indonesia win 3-2 over the second seed and defending champion, South Korea, in the semifinals.
Apart from the women’s team, the Indonesian men’s team will also face China in the final for the Thomas Cup starting at 16.00 WIB. The players fielded are those with the best rankings, namely Anthony sinisuka Ginting, Jonatan Christie, and Chico Aura Dwi Wardoyo in singles. As for the doubles, Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto appeared as the first doubles and Muhammad Shohibul Fikri/Bagas Maulana as the second doubles.
ANTARA/GALIH PRADIPTA
Indonesian men’s singles Anthony Ginting (second left) greets the Indonesian men’s badminton team after winning over Taiwanese badminton player Chou Tien Chen in the 2024 Thomas Cup semifinals in Chengdu, China, Saturday (4/5/2024). The Thomas Indonesia team competed against China in the final, Sunday (5/5).
The Indonesian squad must be careful not to lose the first two matches considering that Anthony is behind in meeting statistics from Shi Yu Qi (2-8), despite winning the last meeting. Fajar/Rian are also behind the young Chinese pair, Liang Wei Keng/Wang Chang (2-4). They even lost the last three meetings, two of them in 2024.
If they can win at least one of the matches, “Red and White” can maintain their chances of winning, even though it won’t be easy. This is because Jonathan and Fikri/Bagas are superior to Li Shi Feng and He Ji Ting/Ren Xiang Yu. Meanwhile, Chico and Lu Guang Zu have a statistical draw of 1-1.
