Gideon Marcus Fernaldi / Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo

[yuquall]

We are losing some valuable insights from the World's most dynamic player because of language barrier. Though he can speak English, I believe he is not that fluent. The players should be allowed to speak in their comfortable language and the broadcaster can translate that later, like we see in football interviews. I believe he is much more expressive in Bahasa Indonesia. Not only him, there are many Indian players who are very expressive when they talk in Hindi.

Play hard. Train harder.

I am afraid you are going to be disappointed. He usually doesn't talk much even in his own language
He seems to be quite a shy and introvert person off court.

 

[ebcd]

I am afraid you are going to be disappointed. He usually doesn't talk much even in his own language
He seems to be quite a shy and introvert person off court.

To be fair though, most of them don't have much skills when it comes to answering questions in interviews. It's always the template answers: "one step at a time" "do our best" blabbla

 

[yuquall]

To be fair though, most of them don't have much skills when it comes to answering questions in interviews. It's always the template answers: "one step at a time" "do our best" blabbla

"Not easy to die" "Enjoy the game"
Yeah to the extent that I can actually just copy paste all their interview translation for all matches.

 

[yuquall]

I better go to sleep now. All the best to minions!!
I pray that good news will be waiting for me when I wake up.. or at least not too disappointing one.

 

[wade]

Work harder kevin, and maybe learn to be more discipline...too many mistakes in the final. gideon should be proud after his performance tonight, the only reason it was even close in the third game.

 

[ma.ria]

Work harder kevin, and maybe learn to be more discipline...too many mistakes in the final. gideon should be proud after his performance tonight, the only reason it was even close in the

We should be proud of their performance
Amazing match..
Seeing great effort by minions till the very end, with no mental break-down from gideon & no bad gestures from Kevin, this is the most heartwarming lost against yuta/endo

 

[yuquall]

Aahh.. they lost narrowly, what a shame. Much better result than the last one. Gonna watch the replay later. Now, going back to sleep.


Updated 16/03/2020 :

Olympics qualification starting :
* Sudirman Cup (Mixed Team); 19 - 26 May -> Bronze Medalist ; Pts: 11,003;
* Indonesia Open Super 1000; 16 - 21 Jul -> Champion; Pts: 12,000 +; Total: 12,000
* Japan Open Super 750; 23 - 28 Jul -> Champion; Pts: 11,000 +; Total: 23,000
* Thailand Open Super 500; 30 Jul - 04 Aug -> QF exit; Pts: 5,040;
* World Championships (Individual); 19 - 25 Aug -> R2 exit; Pts: 1,300;
* China Open Super 1000; 17 - 22 Sep -> Champion; Pts : 12,000 +; Total: 35,000
* Korea Open Super 500; 24 - 29 Sep -> QF exit; Pts: 5,040;
* Denmark Open Super 750; 15 - 20 Oct -> Champion; Pts: 11,000 +; Total: 46,000
* French Open Super 750; 22 - 27 Oct -> Champion; Pts: 11,000 +; Total: 57,000
* Fuzhou China Open Super 750; 05 - 10 Nov -> Champion; Pts: 11,000 +; Total: 68,000
* Hong Kong Open Super 500; 12 - 17 Nov -> QF exit; Pts: 5,040;
* W.T.F; 11-15 Dec -> SF exit; Pts: 8,400 +; Total: 76,400

2020
* (1)Malaysia Masters Super 500; 07- 12 Jan -> QF exit; Pts: 5,040
* (2)Indonesia Masters Super 500; 14 - 19 Jan -> Champions; Pts: 9,200 +; Total: 85,600
* Badminton Asia Team Championships (Team); 12-16 Feb -> Gold medalists; Pts: 11,053+; Total: 96,653
(3)All England Open Super 1000; 11-15 Mar -> Runner ups; Pts: 10,200+; Total: 106,853
(?)Badminton Asia Championships (Individual); 21 - 26 Apr

Olympics qualification ended
Thomas Cup Finals (Team); 16 - 24 May
(6) Thailand Open Super 500; 09 - 14 Jun
(7) Indonesia Open Super 1000; 16 - 21 Jun
Tokyo 2020 Olympic Games Badminton (Individual); 25 Jul - 03 Aug
(8) China Open Super 1000; 15 - 20 Sep
(9) Japan Open Super 750; 22 - 27 Sep
(10) Denmark Open Super 750; 13 - 18 Oct
(11) French Open Super 750; 20 - 25 Oct
(12) Fuzhou China Open Super 750; 03 - 08 Nov
(13) Hong Kong Open Super 500; 10 - 15 Nov
W.T.F; 09 - 13 Dec


Pts : Points earned in the tournament
Total : Total qualification points earned so far
+ : Counted to the top 10 results

 

[Thunder Hand]

Their 6th loss in a row against yuta/endo, sigh. I'm kinda lost hope to be honest, just hope they don't meet yuta/endo at the olympics (if there's olympics this year).

 

[Yoji]

Still reached the Final and get AE silver , not bad ..

Kinda satisfied for me. the way EndoW won, Minions didnt make it easy. Everytime Minions champions look so easy but opponents win a title is like sweating blood lol Endo face is so red.

 

[wade]

Still reached the Final and get AE silver , not bad ..

Kinda satisfied for me. the way EndoW won, Minions didnt make it easy. Everytime Minions champions look so easy but opponents win a title is like sweating blood lol Endo face is so red.

I kinda want minions to win tournament in some dramatic style, if they somehow win last night it would probably be my favorite match from them, even more than AG final. but well...

 

[yuquall]

Just watched the replay. Wowowow, what an amazing match with so many superb rallies! Overall, I liked what I am seeing. Yes they lost this match, but not without a fight and not without significant improvement from their last encounters.

What a shame is that they lost the first game, I thought that had they secured the first game, they might have won the match. Stamina wise, you can't beat the JPN especially Watanabe's lol. Minions has lost most of their power in their smashes in G3.

As usual the defense of the Japanese was extremely solid and even with great attacks. But minions did really well, too, considering. At least it was no longer lopsided games as previous ones. Minions fought back, hard and it was close, darn close... from 0-6, 9-14, 16-18, 19-18 and 19-21. Congratulations to the JPN pair to win the title and by defeating Ahsan/Hendra whom they had negative H2H on the way too.

Marcus did really well and I must say I was really impressed with him. No complaints whatsoever. He wasn't much of the weakest link anymore, minions had worked something out on this issue.
On the other hand, I don't think Kevin was at his best form yesterday as in making too many mistakes (by his own standard). Quite many rushed shot decisions and I don't think he was being disciplined enough at the net haha. What's so hard to be patient like he usually does playing Ahsan/Hendra?

I am disappointed that minions lost, but I am not unhappy with their performances. For a bad match up, they had handled it well. Good body languages, communications and support. And I think they somehow got their confidence back after losing so many times to Endo/Wata. It was as close as it got. I can see minions evolving again after this, to be honest. Having Endo/Wata as a bad match up really turn out to be something positive for minions. If Marcus could keep on improving his front court skill, minions could be a lot stronger and invincible. As for Kevin, he has become a more competent back court player now. But his issue is always with his temperament and emotion control. His impatience and rushed shot decision on trying to finish rally as quickly as possible might do well for other pairs but not work on pairs like Endo/Wata.

Reaching the finals here and lost narrowly to the pair of their worst match up wasn't a bad result.
Well I am sure minions would come back stronger and more matured. This isn't something that can't be fixed nor not figured out. It could be a new beginning of a new version of minions.

Allow me to show my gratification to Yonex for providing these sleeveless jerseys to minions. It had been a pleasure Can they keep these jerseys?

 

[yuquall]

I kinda want minions to win tournament in some dramatic style, if they somehow win last night it would probably be my favorite match from them, even more than AG final. but well...

It was a great match though. Great comeback in G3. Such a shame they didn't make it in the end.

Too bad Kevin was being Kevin lol. If he had played more patiently and more disciplined in G1, things could have ended differently. But surely he will learn.. soon I hope. Marcus was fantastic, if he can play like this in major tournaments I am sure minions could win one soon.

 

[wade]

When hendra intercepting at the front court against yuta/endo, the first interception usually a fast pace shot then the next one or the next after that would be a block shot, kevin would play 3 or 4 straight fast paced shots if the shuttle was keep coming back to him, then the japanese would lifting it back to gideon again. that's why it seems so hard for them to kill the shuttle. hope someday his court awareness can be as good as hendra.

 

[Yoji]

Obviously some people are happy Minions didnt win the match haha.. pity them to have to wait that long for their final loss.

 

[rhoder]

I liked Gideon’s mentality today. Kevin... not so much. We have to thank Gideon for a competitive G3, because Kevin really looked defeated early on. Gideon performed better than Kevin today for sure.

Kevin really needs to work on his mentality, grow comfortable playing slow matches. Gideon has done well at the net, but I think it still can be improved. There were a number of times I saw a relatively flat lift and thought “intercept that one damnit”. If he can build on the confidence, he’ll be more willing to take such chances. Overall, good match

 

[Yoji]

through this loss, i can see why Minions won lots of Finals 27/31SS, BAC AG give and take.

Kevin bravery is just otherworldly in these kinds of matches (not saying he played well last night$. It just doesnt work in the end, almost but aint enough and thats fine.

 

[yuquall]

I liked Gideon’s mentality today. Kevin... not so much. We have to thank Gideon for a competitive G3, because Kevin really looked defeated early on. Gideon performed better than Kevin today for sure.

Kevin really needs to work on his mentality, grow comfortable playing slow matches. Gideon has done well at the net, but I think it still can be improved. There were a number of times I saw a relatively flat lift and thought “intercept that one damnit”. If he can build on the confidence, he’ll be more willing to take such chances. Overall, good match

Agreed. After all those negative attitude from Marcus last year, I was very happy to see how positive he had been throughout the match.

On the other hand, Kevin seemed like he was lost yesterday. The only time I think he played rather well was in G2, he was pretty calm and collected, didn't rush things and pace his shots really well. Rather than just fast and power or going for a winners like in G1, he varied his smashes with half smashes and drop shots. But then he lost it again in G3. He probably wanted to win so badly after losing for so many times to the same opponents, growing impatience and losing sight of the big picture.

I know they lost it in the end, but I saw this as a positive progress for minions. Maybe they can't win this time, but I sensed that they are getting there. If Marcus could keep this attitude on, I think Kevin would come around. Come on Kevin, you can rely on your big brother more

Sad that there will be no tournaments for months. I really want to see more of minions.

 

[Yoji]

Agreed. After all those negative attitude from Marcus last year, I was very happy to see how positive he had been throughout the match.

On the other hand, Kevin seemed like he was lost yesterday. The only time I think he played rather well was in G2, he was pretty calm and collected, didn't rush things and pace his shots really well. Rather than just fast and power or going for a winners like in G1, he varied his smashes with half smashes and drop shots. But then he lost it again in G3. He probably wanted to win so badly after losing for so many times to the same opponents, growing impatience and losing sight of the big picture.

I know they lost it in the end, but I saw this as a positive progress for minions. Maybe they can't win this time, but I sensed that they are getting there. If Marcus could keep this attitude on, I think Kevin would come around. Come on Kevin, you can rely on your big brother more

Sad that there will be no tournaments for months. I really want to see more of minions.

Yeah life goes on. Badminton & sports could be the last thing in peoples mind now.

Even my shop sales is affected by virus.. ahhh crazy week in US stock market again i guess..

 

[rhoder]

Agreed. After all those negative attitude from Marcus last year, I was very happy to see how positive he had been throughout the match.

On the other hand, Kevin seemed like he was lost yesterday. The only time I think he played rather well was in G2, he was pretty calm and collected, didn't rush things and pace his shots really well. Rather than just fast and power or going for a winners like in G1, he varied his smashes with half smashes and drop shots. But then he lost it again in G3. He probably wanted to win so badly after losing for so many times to the same opponents, growing impatience and losing sight of the big picture.

I know they lost it in the end, but I saw this as a positive progress for minions. Maybe they can't win this time, but I sensed that they are getting there. If Marcus could keep this attitude on, I think Kevin would come around. Come on Kevin, you can rely on your big brother more

Sad that there will be no tournaments for months. I really want to see more of minions.

I really liked how supportive and accepting Marcus was of Kevin after the defeat. Think the last few points Kevin was the one making the errors. I’m pretty sure if it were the other way around Kevin wouldn’t have behaved like Marcus. Marcus is a real nice guy

 

[yuquall]

I really liked how supportive and accepting Marcus was of Kevin after the defeat. Think the last few points Kevin was the one making the errors. I’m pretty sure if it were the other way around Kevin wouldn’t have behaved like Marcus. Marcus is a real nice guy

Lol yeah. He probably understand how Kevin must have felt and felt relief that he could do something for Kevin in return.