TEMPO.CO, Jakarta - Tontowi Ahmad/Liliyana Natsir have successfully grabbed the ticket to mixed doubles badminton final in Rio Olympics 2016, having beaten first seed from China, Zhang Nan/Zhao Yunlei. Tontowi/Liliyana are now set to face Malaysian pairing, Chan Peng Soon/Goh Liu Ying in the ultimate match.

“We will evaluate and study the opponents’ data-style. Anything can happen in the Olympics. We typically are wary of top rankings, but less so against the unexpected ones. So we must be wary and not to be caught off guard. We must give our best performance,” Liliyana said.

Liliyana added that he lauded the performances of Malaysian double pairing when they beat their Chinese counterparts. “Despite having a better record in our meeting, we must continue to focus and not to be caught napping. I hope we can play better than today and finish it off well,” she said.

Tontowi/Liliyana had met Chan/Goh nine times. The score is 8-1 for Indonesian double pairing. The latest encounter was in group C of 2016 Olympic Games Badminton. Tontowi/Liliyana won 21-15, 21-11 in straight games.

“Even though they had won in the group stage, they have to focus only [on what’s in front of them] on the court,” said Richard Mainaky, Indonesian mixed double coach.

The National Badminton Association (PBSI) chairman Gita Wirjawan, who have personally been watching the performances of Indonesian athletes in Riocentro Pavilion 4, said: “As I said earlier, when they are on fire, they are unstoppable by anyone or any metric. Hopefully, they will be on fire on our independence day.”

BADMINTONINDONESIA.ORG | BC