Tontowi/Liliyana Burried Hope

Tontowi Ahmad, Liliyana Natsir
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Tontowi/Liliyana has to end their hope to be the champion at home after they fail for the fourth times to be the champion. At BCA Indonesia Open Super Series Premier (BIOSSP) 2014, they were stunned by Xu Chen/Ma Jin 17-21, 21-13, 21-10 at Istora Senayan, Jakarta, Saturday (21/6).

Having been playing together since Indonesia Open 2011, they have never been on podium. The last time, they could only reach semifinal in 2013.

"It was once crossed in mind, why can't we become a champion in Indonesia? Is it simply because Tontowi doesn't want to?" Liliyana said jokingly. "They were the ones who dictated the match and we were under pressure," Butet, Liliyana's nickname, stated.

Tontowi himself thinks that becoming a champion is a realistic target. Especially both of them record hattrick at All England and World Championships 2013. “Maybe the Senayan stadium is a curse for me? I was very disappointed with the defeat,” said Tontowi.

Both of them agree that in the match between them and Xu Chen/Ma Jin, they didn't perform at their best. Either Tontowi or Liliyana felt the pressure and seemed hard to develop their performance.

Xu Chen said that the Indonesian players were outperformed in stamina. So the China's players took the advantage to grab points quickly.

We think the turning point was in the third at interval point 11, Liliyana's looked very exhausted so we could take the lead. After our defeat in the first game, we had a special strategy for the second and the third game," said Xu Chen.

In final round, Xu Chen/Ma Jin is waiting for their opponent between South Korea's Lee Yong Dae/Shin Seung Chan and Joachim Fischer Nielsen/Christinna Pedersen (Denmark). Until this story is written, they are still competing.