CATEGORY | MEN’S DOUBLES
MARCUS GIDEON AND KEVIN SUKAMULJO HAVE DOMINATED THE MEN’S DOUBLES IN 2017 The strong Indonesian pair were nothing short of superb in the first half of 2017. Since then, Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen from China and the Danish Mathias Boe/Carsten Mogensen breathing down their necks. BY S T I N E G R E V E
All England, India Open and Malaysia Open; the year’s first three tournaments in the Superseries calendar – two Superseries Premier tournaments and one Superseries tournament. The three tournaments have one thing in common: in 2017, all three were won by Marcus Gideon/Kevin Sukamuljo. It is therefore justifiable to say that the two Indonesians had a magnificent start to 2017.
However, at Australian Open, which was the last Superseries tournament before the summer break and the World Championships, none of these three pairs managed to reach the final. This satisfaction was given to Japanese pair Takeshi Kamura/Keigo Sonoda, who secured the title with a victory over Hendre Setiawan from Indonesia and Boon Heong Tan from Malaysia.
At All England the pair were victorious against Li Junhui/Liu Yuchen. In India, Ricky Karandasuwa/ Angga Pratama failed to secure a title, while at Malaysia Open it was Fu Haifeng/Zheng Siwei who faced disappointment. We have to go all the way to Singapore Open in the middle of April before we see anyone finally breaking Gideon and Sukamuljo’s winning streak.
After the World Championships, where neither Boe/Mogensen, Gideon/Sukamuljo nor Li/Liu managed to win any medals, the tournament calendar moved on to Korea and Japan, before we finally reach this point – Odense and the DANISA DENMARK OPEN presented by VICTOR.
And it certainly wasn’t just anyone who presented the Indonesians with their first 2017-defeat. It was Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen who sent them out of the tournament in the semi-final, before the Danes, after beating Li/Liu in the final, went all the way and won the tournament. The next major tournament of the season was the Superseries Premier tournament Indonesia Open. It was a big surprise when the home favourites, Gideon/Sukamuljo, lost in the first round to another Danish pair: Kim Astrup and Anders Skaarup. Boe/ Mogensen played their way to the final, where they got the chance to become the first Europeans ever to win the legendary tournament in men’s doubles. Once again Li/Liu stood on the other side of the net, and after a close match it was clear that the Chinese were getting revenge for their defeat in Singapore one month earlier. In addition to the title, the two pairs were also competing for first place on the world rankings, which Li/Liu could pack in their suitcases together with their winners’ trophy.
At Korea Open both Gideoen/Sukamuljo and Boe/Mogensen were back on track as they played each other in the final. The Danes came out victorious securing their second title this year. One week later the two pairs met again at Japan Open, but this time in the semi-final. After playing extremely well Gideon/ Sukamuljo got their revenge against the Danes. In the final they won their fourth title this year as the defeated Japanese Takuto Inoue/Yuki Kaneko. It is now time to play DANISA DENMARK OPEN presented by VICTOR here in Odense and it looks like we’re in for a clash of true drama as the best men’s doubles-players in the world are fighting for the trophy. The crowd here in Odense will without a doubt create a great atmosphere as they’re cheering for their number one seeded national heroes Mathias Boe and Carsten Mogensen.