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[OPINION] Why Endo / Watanabe can consistently beat the Minions

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An exciting Men’s Doubles finals at the All England Open 2020 brought the head-to-head analysis between Watanabe / Endo and the Minions (Gideon / Sukamuljo) to an extraordinary 6-2 in favour of the Japanese pair.

Hiroyuki Endo is a veteran player of age 33 who reached a career high of World No. 2 in Men’s Doubles with Kenichi Hayakawa. His stability, strength and experience makes him an excellent partner for the volatile 22 year old Yuta Watanabe.
Although 11 years younger than his partner, Watanabe has already claimed 7 BWF World Tour titles and currently sits at World No. 5 for both Men’s and Mixed doubles.

Yuta Watanabe and Hiroyuki Endo at the Badminton Korean Open 2018.
 Source: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images AsiaPac

The Minions (currently ranked World No. 1 since October of 2017) are a force to be reckoned with. Their tenacity, dexterity and elegance on the badminton court have allowed them to stay in the top position for a whopping 128 weeks. But even so, Gideon and Sukamuljo have struggled against Endo and Watanabe, and have lost 6 of their most recent encounters.

So why does this formidable Indonesian duo find it so hard to beat this Japanese pair?

If the All England 2020 has taught us anything, it’s that these 4 players (Kevin Sukamuljo, Marcus Gideon, Yuta Watanabe and Hiroyuki Endo) have no shortage of skill and flair when it comes to badminton. The awe-inspiring rallies we were able to experience in the finals of the All England proves this without a shred of doubt.
However, there must be a reason why the Minions are able to thwart most other Men’s doubles duos with relative ease, but fall short when it comes to Endo and Watanabe.

Endo and Watanabe’s win condition boils down to 3 key points: the denial of Sukamuljo at the net, the forcing of the Minions into undesirable positions on court, and the flat game.


1. Denying Kevin Sukamuljo

The Minions’ win condition almost always depends on Kevin Sukamuljo. He is without a doubt, the fastest front court doubles player in the HSBC World Tour. His incredibly dexterous interceptions and genius net plays allow the Indonesian pair to rack up points with ease. It therefore comes to no surprise that the Minions’ strategies and tactics all revolve around Sukamuljo; and why shouldn’t it? He is the differentiating factor that sets this duo apart.
However, this doesn’t mean that Marcus Gideon doesn’t bring anything to the equation. His blistering smash is something Sukamuljo absolutely depends on to finish or set up his magical plays. However, although Gideon is able to hold his own against a lot of other back court doubles players, it would be far-fetched to say that he is the best in this area.

But Endo and Watanabe are aware of the Minions’ win condition. They know that if they can deny Sukamuljo his phenomenal moments on court, the playing field is instantly levelled (or even skewed in their favour). Therefore, all the Japanese duo have to do to deny the Minions’ their easiest path to victory is to either push Sukamuljo to the back court, or keep the shuttle out of his reach at the front court.

And they do exactly this.

In a typical rally between these two teams, you’ll often see Endo and Watanabe lifting endlessly when defending. Once in a while you might also see them play a drive. But what you may not notice is that they never drive towards an empty space in the court or to Sukamuljo. This means that when the Minions are in their preferred offensive position (Gideon at the back and Sukamuljo at the front), Sukamuljo is denied every opportunity to intercept or play a shot. And thus, the Minions have to resort to other methods of winning a rally that doesn’t depend on Sukamuljo’s moments of magic.


2. Minions at the Back Court

As mentioned before, another way the Japanese pair can prevent Sukamuljo from performing to his best ability is by pushing him to the back court. A major problem the Minions have against Endo and Watanabe is balance. Sukamuljo is excellent at the front court and Gideon can perform some outstanding shots at the back court, but when the roles are switched, the duo become a lot weaker. At the back, Sukamuljo is noticeably weaker than his partner, and at the front Gideon cannot even compare to Sukamuljo’s brilliance.

Conversely, Endo and Watanabe are a lot more fluid with their positions on court. Although Endo has traditionally been a stronger smasher than Watanabe in previous years, the gap between them has decreased immensely as Watanabe has continued to improve.

Because of this imbalance and lack of fluidity between the Indonesian pair, their successful and unsuccessful games are quite easily differentiated.
In the games they win, their opponents are unable to handle the immense pressure of Gideon’s smashes at the back and Sukamuljo’s follow-ups at the net. In the games they lose, their opponents are able to continuously put Sukamuljo out of position and force him to the back-court where he is less of a threat, or simply tire Gideon out at the back by allowing him to keep smashing.

Although it would be wildly incorrect to suggest that the Minions are ‘weak’. at the back, their area of expertise lies mainly at the front and mid-court. And the duo certainly have a harder time differentiating themselves from the rest of the top 10 Men’s doubles partnerships when it comes to the back-court.


3. Flat Game and Adapting to Change

One tool that Endo and Watanabe utilises constantly in order to keep the minions off balance and the shuttle off Kevin Sanjaya’s racket is their powerful and accurate drives.

In Men’s Doubles, the flat game (continuous drives that keeps the shuttle relatively flat throughout the rally) is extremely important; it is the deadlock which determines which duo is more skilled at preventing their opponents from attacking. This is because the only way a flat game can end is with a loss of the rally (by pushing the shuttle into the net or with a misplay), or with a lift which effectively postpones a duo’s demise (since it is almost certain the opponents will smash that lift down).

Both the Japanese and Indonesian pairs are extremely skilled at playing the flat game. When these two teams are driving against each other, it truly is a sight to behold. However, when looking at it from a more strategic perspective, it is clear that the flat game should not (and does not) favour the Minions.

When playing the flat game, it is far more convenient and advantageous for players to be standing side-by-side. And because both the Japanese and the Minions could be considered more or less equals when it comes to the flat game, the scales could tip either way.
But, by forcing the Minions to split up and move away from their preferred attacking positions, the Japanese duo are claiming a subtle, but substantial lead. From hereon, Endo and Watanabe are able to continuously deny Sukamuljo while simultaneously tiring Gideon; this presents them with ample opportunities to claim points.

But shouldn’t the World No.1’s be able to adapt and change their game to avoid this situation?

The simple answer is that they do.

But the tricky thing about the flat game is that it simply cannot be avoided. Once initiated, it can only end in a suicide into the net, a misplay that results in the end of the rally, or a lift that allows opponents to rain smashes down upon your head. And the Japanese pair are aware of this. They try their very best to skew the game towards flat exchanges every rally. This means that the Minions have no other choice but to contest with hopes of being able to beat the Japanese; but Endo and Watanabe are incredibly skilled at their drives and blocks which makes things so much harder for the Minions.


Final Thoughts…

We’ve discussed a lot of the strategy these four top-notch athletes utilise. But it goes without saying that these tactics would be moot without the strength, agility and skill the Minions, Endo and Watanabe bring to the court.

Many other Mens doubles partnerships have tried to square up against the world No. 1s and try their luck with these strategies. But without the incredible athleticism that Endo and Watanabe possess, they’ve not been successful.

Currently, tournament results and game scores crown the Minions the indisputable champions of Men’s doubles. But their games between this Japanese pair (along with the astonishing 6-2 head-to-head analysis) does make us wonder, are the Minions at risk from Endo and Watanabe?

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3 thoughts on “[OPINION] Why Endo / Watanabe can consistently beat the Minions

  • Henry didnt notice?

  • Can you please analize also why Endo / Watanabe often lose to The Daddies (Hendra / Ahsan)?

    • Correction: The Daddies (Setiawan / Ahsan)

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