Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo’s Toughest Opponent at Tokyo Olympics? Themselves

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Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo are working hard preparing for Tokyo Olympics. (photo: AFP)
Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo are working hard preparing for Tokyo Olympics. (photo: AFP)

Jakarta: As the World No. 1 men’s pair – Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo of Indonesia still waiting to find out who will be their opponents at the Tokyo Olympics, they do know who their toughest one will be leading up to July 24 – the opening day of the badminton event in the Olympics. It’s themselves.

Gideon/Sukamuljo who are currently working on their final tune-up less than a month before the 2020 Tokyo Olympics, told Indonesian media that their preparations had reached 80%.

“Preparations have been quite good, I think it’s 80% already. Now we have entered the last stage of training because as it’s very close to the departure date,” said Gideon.

“We still need to improve our focus and to strengthen our all-around preparations,” said Sukamuljo.

Speaking about challenges in the Olympics, Gideon/Sukamuljo said that it’s going to be very tough in every round.

“We haven’t competed in a long time, we don’t know how the opponents are doing. Therefore, every match is 50:50, because we don’t know each other’s current strengths and weaknesses,” continued Sukamuljo.

“For us, we will treat all opponents as equal. The Olympics are also under heavy pressure due to the COVID-19 pandemic. The pandemic sure will disturb our mind a lot, but the tournament is big and we have to be careful not to get infected,” continued Gideon.

Even though there are no international tournaments to help them warm up for the Olympics, Gideon/Sukamuljo believed that the training within The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) was enough to prepare them for the Olympics.

“Yes, we have to be ready regardless if there’re warm-up matches or not. We’ve been practicing like playing at tournaments. Our opponents are strong and they are at the world’s top-level,” explained Gideon.

Playing in their first Olympics, Gideon/Sukamuljo also tried not to get too excited.

“This is my first Olympics. So just enjoy it, just live it. The important thing is to try. The toughest opponent is ourselves and I don’t want to regret it. I want to give my best at every match,” added Sukamuljo.

“Kevin is right, just enjoy it and do our best. Don’t put too much pressure and burden on yourself. Everyone wants to win, but only God knows the result. Especially when there is a pandemic like this. Now the important thing is to take care of our health and don’t get sick,” added Gideon.

The badminton tournaments at the 2020 Summer Olympics in Tokyo will be held from 24 July to 2 August 2021 at Musashino Forest Sports Plaza. The Indonesian badminton team will leave early for Japan and will be training in Kumamoto Prefecture from July 8 to July 18, before arriving in Tokyo on July 19th.

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