This year’s World Champion men’s double constellation, Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen (China), played against Ade Yusuf Santo/Wahyu Nayaka Arya Pangkaryanira (Indonesia) on Tuesday afternoon at DANISA DENMARK OPEN 2018 presented by VICTOR.
The Chinese couple came out strong to dominate the game right from the get go. They displayed a strong defence and managed to get an early lead at 4-1. The Indonesian couple seemed unable to create their own points, and almost exclusively won points from Chinese errors. At the break, Li/Liu held a firm lead at 11-3. The swift pace continued after the break, the Indonesians having a difficult time in serving situations and in their defence. It seemed the first game had barely begun before it ended at 21-11 to the Chinese side.
- We will fight for the championship! said Li Junhui confidently in our post-game interview.
In the second game, China started out with the same strategy. However, the Indonesian couple, which is ranked as World Nr. 20, managed to successfully adopt a more offensive approach and took their first lead in the match at 1-2. From there on, the second game started out with neither side playing dominantly, and the two pairs traded points until the break, which ended at 11-10 in the favor of Li/Liu.
Following the break, the Chinese came out with renewed power and once again took control of the match, quickly extending their lead to 14-12. From that point on the Indonesian duo struggled to catch up, but also refused to let Li/Liu get a comfortable lead. Ade Yusuf Santo/Wahyu Nyaka Arya Pangkaryanira fought hard, but in the end the tall Chinese couple towered over the Indonesians and won the second game and the match 21-17 to advance to the second round of the tournament.
- Tomorrow we will take a rest and get ready for the next game, added Liu Yuchen after the game.