Vantaa: The Indonesian Sudirman Cup team had to dig deep, coming back from 1-2 down before finally winning 3-2 against Canada in their second Sudirman Cup Group C tie on Monday.
Indonesia won through the men’s doubles in the first match, where Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto beat B. R. Sankeerth/Nyl Sakura 21-16, 21-10.
However, Canada equalized the score at 1-1 through Rachel Chan who beat Ester Nurumi Tri Wardoyo 22-24, 21-8, 21-18 in the women’s singles match.
Indonesia’s World No. 7 men’s singles player, Jonatan Christie, was struggling against Canada’s World No. 43, Brian Yang, who just returned to Canada after spending some quality time sparring with Tokyo Olympics gold medalist, Viktor Axelsen in Dubai a few weeks ago. Yang eventually defeated the 2018 Asian Games champion 9-21, 22-20, 21-18 to give Canada a 2-1 lead.
The Tokyo Olympics women’s doubles gold medalists, Greysia Polii/Apriyani Rahayu kept Indonesia’s hopes alive by beating Rachel Chan/Catherine Choi 21-16, 21-10 to level the overall score to 2-2.
In the final match, the World No. 21 mixed doubles pair, Rinov Rivaldy/Pitha Haningtyas Mentari became heroes for the Indonesian team when they clinched the winning point by overcoming B. R. Sankeerth/Crystal Lai 21-14, 21-10.
The Indonesian team will face Denmark in the last Group C tie which will take place on Wednesday.
Below are day two results for the 2021 Sudirman Cup
Sudirman Cup – Group A, China vs. India 5-0
Sudirman Cup – Group D, Malaysia vs. England 3-2
Sudirman Cup – Group D, Japan vs. Egypt 5-0
Sudirman Cup – Group A, Thailand vs. Finland 5-0
Sudirman Cup – Group C, Denmark vs. Russia 4-1
Sudirman Cup – Group C, Indonesia vs. Canada 3-2
