In the first qualifying match of Group A held at Field 2 of the Musashino Forest Sport Plaza, Tokyo, Japan, on Saturday, Polii-Rahayu won a straight game against Chow-Lee, 21-14, 21-17 in 45 minutes as cited from the BWF official website.
During the match, Polii-Rahayu performed aggressively, with full of spirit and adopting a more offensive stance.
Based on ranking, Polii-Rahayu are leading as they are ranked sixth in the world, whereas Kuan-Yean are placed eleventh.
The opponents failed to match up with the agile performance of Polii-Rahayu. In a slow but certain manner, Polii-Rahayu continued to give a tough fight to Chow-Lee until the match ended.
Although failing to secure the first game’s start, Polii-Rahayu continued to maintain pressure on their opponents.
Meanwhile, Chow-Lee pocketed the opening points and continued to lead, even widening the gap 7-3 with Polii-Apriyani.
However, the Red and White team did not easily give up. With full spirit, they pursued the points and narrowed the gap, finally reaching the 10-10 draw.
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Their positions returned to a 12-12 draw. However, thereafter, Polii-Rahayu continued to sprint and left Chow-Lee behind to win the first game 21-14.
The situation changed in the second game. The match was tightly fought. Polii-Rahayu, who were able to secure the start this time, were tapped by Chow-Lee, so both pairs took turns leading the game.
Both pairs were strong and dominated one another. Nevertheless, Polii-Rahayu proved their superiority. After a 13-13 draw, the pair was able to outwit the opponents with unpredictable shots and shuttlecock movements.
As a result, the Malaysian pair continued to lose points, and Polii-Rahayu returned to lead with a closing score of 21-17.
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After defeating Chow-Lee, Polii-Rahayu still need to compete in two other qualifying matches in Group A, one being against the British pair Chloe Birch-Lauren Smith on Monday (July 26) and host pair Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota on Tuesday (July 27).
Apart from Polii-Rahayu, four other Indonesian badminton representatives will compete in the opening match of the 2020 Tokyo Olympics: men’s single in Group G: Jonathan Christie, who will face Aram Mahmoud, the IOC Olympics’ refugee team representatives at 9:00 local time.
In addition, mixed doubles Group C pair Praveen Jordan-Melati Daeva Oktavianti will compete against the Australian pair Simon Wing Hang Leung-Gronya Sommerville in a match at 9:40 local time.
The men’s doubles Group A pair Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo-Marcus Fernaldi Gideon will compete against the British representatives Ben Lane-Sean Vendy at 10:20 local time.
Lastly, men’s doubles Group D pair Hendra Setiawan-Mohammad Ahsan will compete against Canadian pair Jason Anthony Ho-Shue-Nyl Yakura at 16:00 local time.
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Translator: Rr. Cornea/ Juwita Trisna R
Editor: Fardah Assegaf
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