Source:Oriental Image/Jiang Xu
[Saba Sports News] On January 23, during the second round of men’s doubles at the Indonesia Masters, the legendary Indonesian pair Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan lost to the Malaysian duo Junaidi Arif and Roy King Yap with scores of 13-21, 14-21, failing to advance. This match is reportedly the last of Ahsan/Setiawan’s professional career, marking the farewell of this legendary badminton pair who were contemporaries of Fu Haifeng and Cai Yun from the international stage. Throughout their career, Ahsan/Setiawan won three World Championship titles (2013, 2015, 2019) and two All England Open titles (2014, 2019), and they once held the world No. 1 ranking. After the match, the Indonesian badminton legends smiled as they said goodbye to the audience, while their opponent Roy King Yap was in tears. It turned out that the Indonesian duo were idols to Yap, who held them in high esteem. Yap expressed great honor at the opportunity to play his last match alongside his idols. Arif, in an interview, mentioned that he thoroughly enjoyed the match and would never forget this day.