Leo Rolly Carnando and Bagas Maulana have made an impressive start to their new partnership by clinching victory at the Korea Open 2024 on Sunday, just their second event together. The Indonesian duo, who reached the semifinals in their debut at the Japan Open the previous week, staged a remarkable comeback to defeat the world champions Kang Min Hyuk and Seo Seung Jae with scores of 18-21, 21-9, 21-8.
Carnando, who previously achieved a career-high world No. 9 ranking with his former partner Daniel Marthin, expressed surprise at their success, attributing their win to playing without pressure and fully enjoying the match. Maulana acknowledged their challenging start but highlighted their tactical adjustments with the coaches as key to their recovery and eventual triumph.
Carnando and Maulana, who teamed up after falling short in their Race to Paris Olympic qualification campaigns, will next compete at the LI-NING Hong Kong Open 2024, which begins on September 10. Their recent success underscores their rapid improvement and eagerness to continue developing as a pair.
In other results from the Korea Open, Lu Guang Zu ended a long title drought by winning the men’s singles against Lee Chia Hao with scores of 21-16, 20-22, 21-18. Local women's pair Kim Hye Jeong and Jeong Na Eun also celebrated their first title in 10 months by defeating Pearly Tan and Thinaah Muralitharan 21-12, 21-11. Additionally, Kim Ga Eun was awarded the women’s singles title after Wang Zhi Yi had to withdraw due to injury.
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