Day 1: Solid Start of the Defending Champion
The 2022 Badminton Asia Team Championships have started. As the defending champion in the men's group, Indonesia started the match with a victory. Being in Group A, Indonesia defeated Hong Kong China with a score of 4-1 in Shah Alam, Selangor, Malaysia, Tuesday (15/2/2022). Their first defeat was experienced by the pair, Pramudya Kusumawardhana/Yeremia Rambitan. The pair lost the rubber game 12-21, 21-18, 20-22 to Law Cheuk Him/Lee Chun Hei Reginald. This was very surprising because the Indonesian pair is very accomplished in terms of their ranking, with the added fact that Law/Lee is also an impromptu pair. Fortunately, Indonesian representatives were able to win in the other four rounds. In the first singles, Chico Aura Wardoyo had to overcome three games 21-14, 18-21, 21-18 over Lee Cheuk Yiu. Based on their ranks, Lee should have won. The 25-year-old badminton player is ranked 17th, while Chico is in the 55th position in the world.
Indonesian men's singles player, Ikhsan Leonardo Rumbay, who is ranked 90th, overcame his opponent in three games 16-21, 22-20, 21-17 over Chan Yin Chak, who is ranked 209th in the world. This match is the longest in the Indonesian duel against Hong Kong China because it lasted 1 hour 7 minutes. Indonesia made sure to win this match in the fourth round. The young doubles pair who took part in bringing Indonesia home a 2020 Thomas Cup, Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin took place and won in two games 22-20, 21-16 over Ho Wai Lun/Yeung Ming Nok. Meanwhile, Indonesia's third singles, Christian Adinata, who is ranked 202th, won 21-15, 21-14 over Jason Gunawan, a Hong Kong Chinese badminton player with Indonesian blood. In the 2022 Badminton Asia Championships, Indonesia holds the status of the defending champion. Only this time the task was not light. They had to rely on young badminton players who still lack experience.
In the same group, Korea swept victories over India. In the first singles, the Indian Open 2022 champion Lakshya Sen surprisingly lost in straight games 11-21, 19-21 to Jeon Hyeok Jin. Rank-wise, this defeat was almost unbelievable. Lakshya Sen is ranked 13th in the world and his opponent is ranked 2,075th. Lakshya Sen's defeat seemed to affect the morality of his comrades. In the second doubles match, representatives of India, Ravikrishna PS/Sankar Prasad were dominated in 27 minutes with a score of 8-21, 10-21 to Kim Hwi Tae/Kim Jaehwan. The victory of Korea was confirmed through the second single. Kim Joo Wan, who was on the unranked committee list, also won two games 21-18, 21-14 over George Kiran, who is ranked 75th in the world. For two last matches, South Korea's second doubles pair, Jin Yong/Na Sung Seung only needed 26 minutes to beat India's Manjit Singh/Dingku Singh, who are ranked 259th, 7-21, 15-21. In the final match, South Korea's third singles player, Jeong Min Sun was forced to strive in three games for 1 hour 4 minutes before defeating India's Mithun Manjunath, ranked 81st, with 21-16, 25-27, 21-14.
Eight countries will participate in the 2022 Badminton Asia Team Championships and are divided into two groups. Besides Group A, Group B is inhabited by Malaysia, Japan, Singapore, and Kazakhstan. Three strong countries, China, Taiwan, and Thailand failed to participate for health reasons due to the Covid-19 pandemic.
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