Jakarta: The men’s doubles legendary coach Herry Iman Pierngadi of Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) has announced that Indonesia would send four men’s doubles pairs to the Asian Badminton Championships (BAC) that will be held in Wuhan, China, from April 24 to April 29.
However, Indonesia’s World No. 1 men’s doubles shuttlers Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo have decided to pull out from the tournament because Marcus Fernaldi Gideon is marrying his girlfriend, Agnes Amelinda, in the middle of April.
“Marcus couldn’t make it to the Asian Badminton Championships, because he is getting married on April 14th, while the tournament starts April 24th,” said Pierngadi.
“He’s not going to have enough time to prepare for the tournament, that’s why I suggested to him that he should skip that tournament,” explain Pierngadi.
The four Indonesian men’s pairs that will play in Wuhan are – Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto, Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan, Angga Pratama/Rian Agung Saputro, and Berry Angriawan/Hardianto.
“Based on their world rankings, each country can send a maximum of four partners to BAC,” added Pierngadi.
Herry Iman Pierngadi also stressed that he would use BAC to evaluate the performances of these men’s pair, and the high performers would be selected to play for Indonesian in the 2018 Thomas Cup Finals that will be held in Bangkok, Thailand in May.
No Indonesian players was able to win a gold medal at the 2017 BAC. Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir were the last Indonesian shuttlers to win gold in BAC, where they defeated Lee Chun Hei/Chau Hoi Wah of Hong Kong 21–16, 21–15 in the final.
