The daddies never get old. That's what Indonesian badminton fans keep saying year after year, and there seems to be truth in it. Even at age 38 (Setiawan) and 35 (Ahsan) the Indonesian men's doubles legends are amongst the absolute best in the game. Today, they reached the final in Birmingham and will fight for their third All England title tomorrow.
In an amazing match that went back and forth, Ahsan/Setiawan beat Liang/Wang from China 21-15, 19-21, 29-27 in 68 minutes. In the overtime of the deciding game, one could clearly tell, that experience beat youth power in this one. The Chinese looked a little more nervous and gave away two matchpoints due to service errors. The daddies looked more relaxed and even kept smiling between rallies during the most crucial periods of the match: "We don't think about winning or losing. We just try our best and keep focused for the next point", shared Setiawan afterwards.
In tomorrow's final of the BWF Super 1000 event Ahsan/Setiawan will face either their compatriots Alfian/Ardianto or another Chinese pair He/Zhou.
When being asked about how long they want keep playing, Setiawan has a simple answer, laughing with his partner: "I don't know. We just try to play until we can no longer play."
And even if their career will eventually end at some point in the upcoming years, for now, the crowd in the arena and in front of the TV screens can definitely look forward to another big show of Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan in tomorrow's final on the biggest stage in badminton.
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