Indonesian men’s doubles, Marcus Fernaldi Gideon/Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo, withdrew from the oldest badminton tournament in the world, namely the All England 2023. The All England 2023 which includes the BWF World Tour Super 1,000 competition will be held in Birmingham, England, from 14-19 March 2023.
Indonesia originally sent 16 representatives to compete in the 2023 All England including 6 men’s doubles pairs. However, that number has now decreased after Kevin/Marcus decided to withdraw.
The men’s doubles, nicknamed the Minions, withdrew because Kevin had not recovered 100 percent after contracting dengue fever. The head coach of the Indonesian men’s doubles, Herry Iman Pierngadi, said that Kevin had suffered from dengue fever 10 days before leaving for England.
“Actually, Kevin/Marcus’ preparation was quite good, but 10 days before departure, Kevin was positive for DHF (dengue hemorrhagic fever),” said Herry in a PBSI statement. “After rest and treatment, last Wednesday (8/3/2023) we had training. Then, Marcus/Kevin discussed it, Kevin said he couldn’t be 100% ready. Finally, after consulting with me and Aryono, it was decided not to go,” said Harry.
“I also saw that his condition was indeed not fit. His strength had not returned because he had not practiced for 4-5 days. It is better to recover first,” he continued.
Herry emphasized that there was no other reason behind Marcus/Kevin’s departure at the 2023 All England. Everything is purely due to Kevin’s illness. “There is no other reason. They are very focused on playing. In fact, in my opinion, in the practice session before getting sick, Kevin was very persistent in training. All programs were executed well, nothing was left out,” said Herry.
“This is purely because of the dengue fever that attacked him,” said Herry. Herry also advised the owner of the two-time All England champion not to give up.
“It’s possible that after being absent from the All England the ranking will drop. But it doesn’t matter that we will start from Super 300 first,” said Herry. “For them I advised them to be even more patient, take care of their condition as we will not know when sickness will come,” he said. “However, never give up, there is still time left to catch up. The Race to the Olympics is also still possible,” said Herry in a message.
With the withdrawal of Kevin/Marcus, Indonesia has left five men’s doubles pairs at the All England 2023. They are Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Rian Ardianto, Mohammad Ahsan/Hendra Setiawan, Leo Rolly Carnando/Daniel Marthin, Bagas Maulana/Muhammad Shohibul Fikri, and Pramudya Kusumawardana/ Yeremia Erich Yoche Yacob Rambitan.
