Suara.com – Indonesian men’s singles, Anthony Ginting, did not give up even though he was left behind in the first game of the round of 16 of the French Open 2023, until he finally won which took him to the quarter-finals, Thursday (26/10) evening WIB.
Ginting recorded this victory over host representative Toma Junior Popov with a rubber game 11-21, 21-17, 21-19 at Glaz Arena, Rennes.
“First, thank God, I was able to finish the match quite well. Even though in the first game I was unable to apply the strategy correctly, it was even very far from what I had planned,” said Ginting in the official PBSI release, Thursday.
Ginting admitted that his game in the opening game did not go well. However, he didn’t want to get lost in his mistakes, so he immediately racked his brains to be able to outsmart Toma’s tenacity in the next game.
In the second game, the badminton player from Cimahi, West Java, tried to play with more confidence using the strategy he wanted. Patience was the key to his success in gaining the lead in the second and third games.
Ginting was also almost overtaken at the end of the third game. Luckily he was able to control his focus and maintain his position to win the match after fighting for 76 minutes.
“Not panicking was my key when finishing the last two points in the deciding game after Toma came close and even equalized the score from 14-19 to 19-19,” explained Ginting.
Meanwhile, in the match played earlier today, Indonesian women’s doubles, Apriyani Rahayu / Siti Fadia Silva Ramadhanti almost experienced a rubber game match in the round of 16 of the French Open 2023 when they faced Malaysian representatives Vivian Hoo / Lim Chiew Sien.
Apri / Fadia’s smooth progress in the first game turned full of difficulties in the second game. Luckily they were able to catch up and win in two straight games 21-8, 21-18.
“Earlier in the second game we made a lot of unforced errors because there was quite a difference on both sides of the field,” said Fadia.
According to Apri, the conditions on the side of the field in the second game greatly influenced their playing patterns. This is an advantage for Vivian / Lim to avenge their defeat in the first game.
Until the interval, Apri / Fadia’s score was far behind their opponents with 7-12. The Indonesian duo also tried to catch up until they were able to win four points in a row and narrowed the gap to 12-13.
Apri / Fadia again won consecutive points and took a narrow lead of 17-16 over Vivian/Lim. They were chasing points, until finally Apri/Fadia tried to play more neatly to increase their lead.
A total of four consecutive points closed the 39-minute match, ensuring victory for Apri / Fadia to advance to the quarter-finals.
“Earlier, after being 3-4 points behind, we just tried not to make our own mistakes. Apart from the condition of the field, we also couldn’t control the condition of the shuttlecock completely,” Apri explained.