Jakarta. Back-to-back losses to Chinese arch rivals Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei in the All England and Malaysia Open Super Series is not a major concern for Indonesian mixed doubles pair Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir for future competitions.

The three-time All England champions say they want to focus on their performance and improve their game before facing a possible encounter with the Chinese pair en route to the final of this week’s Singapore Open Superseries. 

Liliyana said they take to heart the lessons of previous achievements to boost their performance.

“We have won the tournament three times since 2011 and we still get the chemistry of the tournament’s atmosphere. Even before with Tontowi,” 

“I have good memories with [former partner] Nova [Widianto] by winning the tournament,” Liliyana said, as quoted by badmintonindonesia.org

“It’s always good to play here and I have it will be a positive start for me to face the week.”

The Indonesians started their Singapore campaign with an encounter against qualifiers Lee Yi Jian and Peiy Zhean Lim of Malaysia. 

The Indonesians posted an easy win of 21-5, 21-7 to set up a clash with Hong Kong’s Reginald Lee Chun Hei and Chau Hoi Wah.

Should the Indonesians keep their nerve, they will likely face Zhang and Zhao in the finals.

“I don’t see the losses as a big issue because [Tontowi and Liliyana] have defeated them before,” national mixed doubles team coach Richard Mainaky said.

“My focus is to prepare them for major tournaments, especially the Indonesia Open Superseries and World Championships in Jakarta this year.”

Fellow Indonesian mixed doubles pair Irfan Fadhilah and Weni Anggraini joined the second round after trouncing Thailand’s Trawut Potieng and Jongkonphan Kittiharakul, 21-17, 14-21, 23-21.

The Indonesians will be pitted against Germans Michael Fusch and Birgit Michels.

Markis Kido and sibling Pia Zebadiah Bernadet cruised through to the second round as well after defeating Sweden’s Jonathan Nordh and Emelie Fabbeke, 23-21, 21-6.

The siblings will face a tough final 16 when they play the tournament’s second seed Xu Chen and Ma Jin of China, who ousted Indonesia’s Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto, 21-13, 21-16.

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Source: The Jakarta Globe