Hi there. A frequent silent reader here. I already made a post about 'Kevin and Yeremia situation' in the Indonesia Masters 2021 thread, but I think I should post it here as well. I'm sorry about the length. Herry IP wouldn't think badly about the match. Why? Because it’s a somewhat ‘running joke’ between Kevin and Yeremia. Don’t take it seriously. Yeremia in two separate IG live said that he indeed provoked Kevin first and they always mock each other (jokingly) during their training. But when he finally did it in a match outside of training (Olympic simulation match), it was because of Hendra, Ahsan and Marcus actually asked him to provoke Kevin so they will be cheeky to each other, to make the match more fun. The clip: After yesterday’s match, Yere was live again on Instagram with his juniors (Pratama players, a level before the Utama or main players). They were amazed and asked him why did he provoked Kevin. Yere said that he thought that no one would notice, but admitted that he indeed provoked Kevin so Kevin would take him seriously. If Kevin isn’t serious, their play/the match wouldn’t be interesting/enjoyable. He said that he wouldn’t mind if he lose, as long as Kevin played seriously. I don’t think that means that Kevin’s juniors don’t respect him. Yere even tried to fired Kevin up so he would go all out against him. That means that they respect him and his talent and want to measure themselves against him. And after the heated match, he said that they get along again and were joking to each other. You can see the glimpse of it in the match, they all smile to each other at the end and even smile at some point during the match too. Clips: You can say that it’s childish for both Kevin (he's Kevin, alright) and Yeremia to act like that during an international tournament and that’s not a professional behavior. But the main point is, that there are no actual bad blood between them. INA badminton fans who follow this stuff for so long, who know the scene much more than me (including the inside jokes of Kevin-Yere), actually laugh and entertained by the match. Some parts, like Kevin-Yere made comical moves to the net, excessive screaming, fake diving/ fake swinging, and Pram protested to the umpire, etc are hit and featured in compilation and TikTok videos. But of course, there are INA netizens who take it seriously and are bashing Kevin online (they're the type of irrational people who love to bully athletes/staff/fellow countrymen/people of other countries online) which is ironic, because not to long ago, so many people said that they were missing Kevin's being cheeky and put attitude on court. Bonus: Now this is a true rivalry. Yere hopes that in the Indonesia Open, when FajRi and LeoNiel meet, FajRi will win so LeoNiel couldn’t catch up to PraYer’s point for the World Tour Final. Rivalry between LeoNiel-PraYer are on point so far. LeoNiel won their battle for the spot as MD4 for INA’s Thomas Cup team and with that, they also won gold for TC. PraYer looked so disappointed with their lost after the match with LeoNiel (Yere slammed down his racket in frustration) and I think LeoNiel got the TC gold only fire PraYer up more. Let's see. (the clips are all in Indonesian though)
I hope the "guaranteed" is sarcasm. If you did not use the emoji, I think it is a really wrong statement because Kevin never even provoke using Indonesian language. He is not one who can articulate his thoughts in words well, even in own language. If you follow the post matches interview in the past also he seldom gives any insight. Some people think badly of him but I think some other players can be more explosive when angry, like Taufik or some other foreign players. I think it is even worse those in other sports, there are sportspeople who like to say rascist things to provoke their opponent(usually they did it and they denied it) At least Kevin did not do dirty tactic and not owned up.
Yeah, because Kido is already not fit so Marcus needs to step up at the back. But earlier before pairing with Kido, he mostly played in front and sometimes at the back
There is no thread on Pram/Yere yet so I just write here since we are discussing about their matches with minions I think Yere is the standout one in the pair. He and Fajar was unbeaten last year in PBSI home tournament. But Kevin was not paired with Gideon. However, I think it would interesting if in future Yere is paired with Fajar again and meet Kevin/Gideon. I probably would bet them winning. And if Yere dared to make Kevin go all out just to make the match 2 days ago more interesting, that is very confident of him
Sorry for the length. Some condensed info about what’s going on around The Minions. Some INA fans are suggesting that The Minions should shifted their concentration to BWC, some even said that they probably should ‘let IO and WTF go’ because of the lack of recovery time. Just several days after WTF + another long trip with its jetlag as well. They’re so exhausted and for weeks Herry IP already said that Marcus/Kevin are so tired so he didn’t expect them to reach finals nor demand anything (but they somehow managed to, three times in a row). After the final yesterday, PBSI had a small appreciation event for the INA Thomas team, and a video phone caught a bit of Herry’s discussion with someone about The Minions (non verbatim): “But they bodies couldn’t… (inaudible words), their bodies are too exhausted.” - Not only that, they went to The Sudirman Cup not even in their best form. Kevin was injured (shoulder and knee injuries), had some therapies and was only given lightened, adjusted training sessions. Herry said at that time that Kevin wouldn’t recovered even at the Thomas, maybe only in 70-80% condition. Apparently had some relapse so couldn’t play for INA vs TPE but could play again days after. And now he is already going on for months without proper rest and recovery time, played and played through multiple tournaments and finals. Marcus also wasn’t in good form. During Thomas Herry said that he was ‘punya masalah pada kakinya’ (having problem with his legs) and was running out of gas so couldn’t participated for the final. - Based on an interview with Kevin, WTF qualification is demanded by their sponsor(s) though, although I couldn’t remember if winning it is obligated or not. Plus it’s held in Indonesia. PBSI’s chairman publicly said that they have no target, but a PBSI personnel on Twitter hinted that there are actually pressures because the event is in Indonesia. I think that’s why the main team was sent to the Hylo open. For more qualification points. And now, with the lack of INA representative for WTF (only Greysia-Apriyani and The Minions are qualified so far, and maybe 1 more MD and/or if possible, 1 XD), pressures to perform well are definitely huge. And I don’t think they would just ‘let go’ and wouldn’t do the maximum they can. They’re just not the type. Especially because for the last few tournaments, they’re always be the last INA MD left (with other sectors were underperforming/ have physical problems to boot). But the on going exhaustion can cripple them just like in the Denmark Open. After won their match, Bagas/Fikri even said that they’re surprised because they couldn’t beat The Minions during their training, not even once. But later, after some days of rest, Minions could beat other INA pairs again. Also, the cyber bullying they got are severe whenever they lost, even in the final (sometimes, even if they won). Those nasty people also attack their family members and sometimes also friends. They just got bullied again yesterday, said that they humiliated INA and because of them, INA couldn’t even have one title. Should be disbanded, left Pelatnas or retired as an athlete. Flawed logic, because as we know it, they’re actually the only one who managed to reach the final (since semifinal, even). But others who lost before them got far less attack. (Except maybe Praveen/Melati, because of the visible cold shoulder and their lack of communication. The usually patient Coach Nova was even very very disappointed and publicly admitted that there are problems between the two. Hopefully they can sort out whatever happened between them and get back to their best again.) If The Minions lost early in IO and WTF, those bullies will be feasting. But on the other hand, they could get more day to rest. - A hard year for them. Covid, lack of tournament for +1 year dull them, no warm-up matches with current international MDs before the OG, mental trauma after the Olympic, injuries and physical problems, and after they started to regain their battle senses, too tired to maximize their performance. And tournaments held in INA are usually with fast hall, but the current Bali hall is very slow with slow shuttle too, which is tiring them more and troubling many players. Yet still burdened by big responsibilities because so far they still could deliver even when underperforming. I actually think that if The Minions were in a little bit better condition (e.g. more rest), they could won the DIM final. I hope they can preserve their energy well and free from injuries. Let’s see what will happen in IO and WTF.
The Japanese pair played very well at IM final, imo, sometimes you just need to tip your hat to your opponent. Yes, 3 finals in a row is quite an achievement. Haters gonna hate, let them be.
Of course. Hoki-Kobayashi are great. I'm sorry if it seems that I didn't rate them, which is not my intention. I should word it better. They are absolutely phenomenal and that's the truth. Their improvement is so great and they're worthy of being Japan's MD1. And of course, deserve the win and multiple titles. They're also a silver BWC medalist, it's not like they're suddenly good out of nowhere. They always have it in them. I was referring to the exhaustion that cause The Minions running out of gas quicker, wavering focus and deter them to perform better and very costly during critical points. Haters are such lost cause. They even attack Ong/Teo because of the Hawk-Eye error. Completely irrational.
The only thing is they beat Minions in Indonesia which in this state is NeutralVenue. I dont think they will be able to beat them with full crowd. The last pair to beat them in Indonesia is AstrupRasmussen i believe. Sometimes when you have wavering focus, tiredness, etc. All you need is the fans support and its all the difference (just like AG when they were nowhere near their best)
But minions today & minions last year or 2 years ago aren't the same. Not saying they're weak, but are more beatable now.
Yeah but should still be enough to beat Hoki with full crowd or crowds in any arena, especially in Final.
I think its more players are getting adept to pushing Kevin to the back/drawing Marcus to the back. Marcus was carrying in that last set against Ong/Teo.
Their forms isnt so good and they are on the verge of 4th SS final in their last 4 tournaments. Throw in that TC cup title as bonus as well.. Life is good.
Have they transformed a little? With Kevin spending more time at the rear and Gideon at the front, they seem to play in a more flexible way. In a strange way I feel they play more like the top WS like FukuHiro, and Polii/Rahayu, they don’t necessarily rely on a quick point of absolute dominance, instead they can tolerate long rallies and win by consistency. Let’s see how they play with Hoki and Kobayashi. The Japanese pair can’t be beat be playing passively.
Yeah, my favourite match is when they play ShettyRR. Really tactical, nothing fast and furious. Its different from all the matches they ever played.
