Rising stars: Indonesia’s Rehan Naufal (left) and Lisa Ayu in action against Soloman Padiz-Eleanor Inlayo of the Philippines in the mixed doubles match.
REHAN Naufal-Lisa Ayu are out to bring back the glory days of Lilyana Natsir and Tontowi Ahmad.
Tontowi-Lilyana had been one of the most successful mixed doubles pairs for Indonesia and had captured gold in the 2016 Rio Olympics and were crowned world champions twice in 2013 and 2017.
The retirement of Lilyana and Tontowi in 2019 and 2020 respectively had left a void in the Indonesian mixed doubles.
Now, Rehan-Lisa, who reached a career-high No. 10 in the world recently, are eager to emulate their compatriots.
“All the Indonesian mixed doubles pairs now, including Lisa and I are still not stable yet,” said Rehan.
“Being the No. 1 pair for our country is a huge motivation for us to want to go further.
“Indonesia have produced top mixed doubles players like Lilyana and Tontowi and we want to be successful like them.”
The pair had captured their first World Tour title – the Hylo Open – last November.
For now, Rehan-Lisa have set their sights on winning gold in the SEA Games in Cambodia.
Yesterday, they booked their spot in the semi-finals after beating Philippines’ Soloman Padiz-Eleanor Inlayo 24-22, 21-10 at the Morodok Techo badminton hall in Phnom Penh.
Rehan admitted that the pair, who were playing their first match in the Games after receiving a bye in the opening round, struggled to win the first game after taking time to adapt to the court conditions.
“We arrived a week ago and this was our first match as we didn’t play in the team events and we needed time to adapt to the wind inside here and the fast shuttle,” said Rehan.
“The pressure was also more on us as the top seeds and we are glad that we managed to control the second game better and win.
“We really want to get the gold and will prepare well for our next match.”
Rehan-Lisa will face Thailand’s Ratchapol Makkasasithorn-Chasinee Korepap next for a place in the final.
