RAHAYU/RAMADHANTI: South Korean’s nemesis

For the opening day of the 2024 Yonex French Open, the South-Korean pair KIM So Yeong/KONG Hee Yong (n°4) lost a beautiful battle against Apriyani RAHAYU/Siti Fadia Silva RAMADHANTI (n°9, Indonesia). 1 hour and 22 minutes of great badminton for the pleasure of the crowd, also discovering a brand-new arena.

For their first game of the tournament, seed n°3 from South Korea are facing a huge challenge against a pair they never managed to beat in two confrontations in 2023. New arena, new year, KIM, and KONG intend to erase the 0 in their head-to-head. Both pairs are starting strong, not letting one another take a two-point lead. Opposition of style is massive, height and defense from South Koreans confronting Indonesian pace and energy. The first breach is opened by KIM and KONG as they take a six-point lead thanks to an amazing run mixing powerful attacks and delicate dropshots at the net (17/11). A bit frustrated, RAHAYU and RAMADHANTI give a few points away to concede the first game (21/12). South Korea can breathe as the first set fans favorites achieve to win against RAHAYU and RAMADHANTI.

Olympic gold medalist in Tokyo, Apriyani RAHAYU knows her way through contested matches. Leaving everything she has on court, she shows the way to her partner in order to stay close in the second set. Rallies are getting longer, margins of errors smaller and smaller. The match is turning into a marathon where accuracy and stamina are the keys to success. 21/17 Indonesia, adidas arena’s crowd can appreciate their return on investment, witnessing one of the best first round of the tournament.

Shaken after losing the second set, KIM and KONG struggle to get back to it. Unforced errors and a lack of aggressivity allows the Indonesians to take a significant lead at the break (11/2). Now playing against the odds, worlds number 4 can’t handle RAHAYU and RAMADANTHI’s power and once again they concede the defeat (14/21 21/17 21/8).

RAHAYU/RADAMHANTI: “We enjoyed playing every single point. We had to adapt and find the right plays after the loss of the first set, but great communication allowed us to get the win. [About the arena] We got the vibes here because it will be the same arena for the Olympics in August. We hope we can play well for this competition”.