A “dream” training stint in Malaysia powered Ygor Coelho to a flying start against Anthony Sinisuka Ginting, before the Indonesian sixth seed brought him back to earth, in the opening round of the TotalEnergies BWF World Championships 2022.
Coelho spent a month training with a group that included Chou Tien Chen and Tommy Sugiarto at Sports Affairs in Kuala Lumpur, and the stint saw him turn up in fine fettle as he gave Ginting the jitters in the opening game. Ginting though recovered to make the second round, 13-21 21-15 21-12.
“I’d talked last year that at one point in my life I’d like to go to Malaysia,” said Coelho. “I realised that dream. I went to Malaysia for the Malaysia Open for the first time. I’ve never trained in Asia before, so this was my first experience, and I was lucky to practice with Chou Tien Chen, Tommy Sugiarto, Soong Joo Ven, Zhang Beiwen, and Soniia Cheah and it was a really nice atmosphere as well. Everyone was taking me along and I felt at home, and I had a great chance. That’s why I was ready to play there. I think that training showed today. My shape and rhythm got better.”
Coelho started strongly against Ginting, but once the Indonesian found his length it was an uphill battle for the challenger.
“I knew it was quite hard, but he showed why he is No.6 in the world,” said Coelho. “I started with the better side and I felt he got nervous and with my experience I could take it. He found his length and he was very fast; he was a better player and he showed me how much I have to improve.”
Ginting acknowledged that Coelho had given him a wake-up call.
“Bit of a scare, yes,” smiled Ginting. “In the first game nothing was smooth or going well, but I tried hard to manage it. I tried to enjoy and keep calm. I was a bit rushed in the opening game and Ygor played well.
“I think the conditions were good. It was a bit of a wake-up call. I learnt a lot from today, to prepare for the next match. Hopefully in the second match I can play better than today.”