Gregoria Mariska’s Key to Resolving Her Revenge Against Thailand’s Representative at the 2024 Indonesia Open

JAKARTA – Indonesian women’s singles, Gregoria Mariska Tunjung considers calmness to be the key to his success in successfully reversing Thailand’s representative, Supanida Katethong, at the Indonesia Open 2024. Apart from that, he also played with more confidence so he was able to secure a positive result.

Gregoria successfully silenced Katethong in the round of 16 of the Indonesia Open 2024 which was held at Istora Senayan, Jakarta, on Thursday (6/6/2024) afternoon WIB. He won two straight games with a score of 21-13 and 21-15 in 34 minutes.

This victory made the ninth ranked player in the world succeed in making a comeback against Katethong. Previously, he lost to his opponent when they met in the quarter-finals of the Thailand Open 2024 two weeks ago with a score of 21-14, 20-22 and 20-22.

“Grateful to be able to win this time as we know I lost to him a few weeks ago at the Thailand Open in the last eight. “That’s definitely a special note for me because actually I think in the previous match I felt I had a chance to win but my opponent played very well and I couldn’t get out of the pressure,” said Gregoria to media crew, including MNC Portal Indonesia, after the match, Thursday. (6/6/2024).

Furthermore, Jorji – Gregoria’s nickname – assessed that today’s victory over Katethong could be achieved thanks to the evaluation he made from their last meeting. He said, today he played more comfortably even though he was nervous because he appeared in front of thousands of his own supporters at Istora Senayan.

“I felt that I felt successful in the evaluation in Thailand yesterday which was successful enough for me to take it to the game where I felt more comfortable playing. “Even though at the start, to be honest, it was really tense because we were playing at Istora with a lot of supporters, but thank God, we are grateful that we were able to win here,” explained the 24 year old player.

Apart from that, calmness was also the key to Gregoria’s victory over the world number 15 player because it made him play more confidently. According to him, the strategy he implemented was effective in putting his opponent in a pressured position.

“I think today I was calmer because with the condition of the opponent’s field, several times in the first game he had difficulty trying to play netting with me, so that made me more confident to apply my game too. “Earlier, when I won in the first game, I felt more relaxed playing in the second game and thank God, today I was able to win without having to rubber, which is really nice,” explained the 2023 Spain Masters champion.

Even though he won with a convincing score, Gregoria faced fierce resistance from Katethong at the start of the second game until the score reached 6-6. He revealed that at that moment he was hesitant because he was still afraid to move freely after in the previous match against Putri Kusuma Wardani (Putri KW), his injured leg still hurt.

“Yesterday I said that after playing against Putri KW, my legs weren’t comfortable yet, they were still sore. To be honest, I was a little afraid if the ball was too far to push because I was afraid of sprinting again because yesterday’s fall was quite painful, I felt. “So, if I felt like the ball couldn’t go, I didn’t really want to force it, I was afraid I would fall again,” he concluded.

(sto)