Markis Kido, Hendra Setiawan stamp their supremacy in Li Ning Singapore Open 2012
Men’s Doubles experts Markis Kido and Hendra Setiawan finally revived their lost chemistry and clinched Li Ning Singapore Open title on June 24, 2012.
The Indonesian pair was going through a bad patch as they could not register their presence in the arena after ruling in 2012 Australian Open GP Gold event.
World Number eight duo trounced prominent pairs like Goh V Shem-Lim Khim Wah, Hoon Thien How-Tan Wee Kiong, Hiroyuki Endo-Kenichi Hayakawa and Ko Sung Hyun-Yoo Yeon Seong to wear the crown in this Super Series tournament.
Markis-Hendra were blessed with a favourable draw and they opened their marathon against lower ranked team Juergen Koch-Peter Zauner of Austria.
This first round match concluded in just 21 minutes as the Austrian could not withstand intensive invasion of their superior rivals and surrendered after reading 15-21 and 10-21 margin.
With this straight-set win, the reigning Olympic Champions secured a berth in pre quarter-finals where they were scheduled to meet Malaysian campaigners Thien How and Wee Kiong.
This time Markis-Hendra had to put all in their possession to save their honour as they were on the verge of an early exit after losing the very first game of the match with 10-21.
However, they managed to stay in the contest by clinching the second set with a notable difference in 21-14 and then ensured their presence in top eight teams by winning the third set with decisive figure of 21-18.
In quarter-final round, the Indonesians were up against World Number 26 duo V Shem-Khim Wah from Malaysia.
This tussle was expected to be a nerve-racking contest as the Malaysian team was in top form after beating couple of strong contenders but their magic could not prevail in this crucial match.
The twosome of Markis and Hendra wrapped the show in just two games by registering favourable margin of 21-18 and 21-17.
Their next competitors were the dangerous Japanese team of Hiroyuki Endo-Kenichi Hayakawa in the semi-final round of the tournament.
Both teams displayed commendable fighting spirit in 50-minute encounter and pushed each other all the way to three exhausting sets.
First set of match completely belonged to Hiroyuki-Kenichi who gained an early advantage with staggering total of 21-16.
Following game equalled the balance of the match as it saw the suppressed duo of the previous game bouncing back with a strong reply.
Men’s Doubles partners Markis and Hendra showed elevated craft and cornered their challengers with 21-11 score in the second set. They earned right to be in the finals by winning third set with concluding margin of 21-16.
The title match proved to be the real test of their skills as they were taking on World Number four Korean duo Sung Hyun-Yeon Seong.
Markis-Hendra, who were severely criticised for their recent failures, silenced their critics by seizing the crown with convincing figure of 22-20, 11-21 and 21-6.
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