Indonesia’s Sabar Gutama and Moh Reza. — FAIHAN GHANI/The Star
PETALING JAYA: Indonesian shuttlers Sabar Gutama-Moh Reza are plotting to derail Malaysia's ambitions of winning gold in the men's doubles in the SEA Games starting tomorrow at Thammasat University, Pathum Thani.
Malaysia's world No. 2 Aaron Chia-Soh Wooi Yik and world No. 5 Man Wei Chong-Tee Kai Wun are the favourites to capture the title but Sabar-Moh are keen to end both pairs' hopes in their debut Games.
The world No. 8 duo are Indonesia's best bet for the gold in the absence of the in-form Fajar Alfian-Shohibul Fikri and have already proven to be a thorn in Malaysia's side.
Sabar-Moh, who train under former great Hendra Setiawan, hold 2-1 and 3-1 head-to-head records over Aaron-Wooi Yik and Wei Chong-Kai Wun respectively.
The pair toppled both combos on their way to the Hylo Open final in October before finishing runners-up to Taiwan's Wang Chi-lin-Chiu Hsiang-hsieh.
"We are very happy to be chosen for the SEA Games for the first time," said Sabar in an interview posted in the Indonesian National Badminton Association (PBSI) website.
"We want to go all out to win the gold. The competition will be tough as Malaysia have selected Aaron-Wooi Yik and Wei Chong-Kai Wun.
"We have to be ready though to face any pair and we bring out our best game."
Overall, Sabar-Moh have been in good form this year, reaching the finals of the Indonesian Open and Macau Open where they also finished runners-up to go with their second place in the Hylo tourney.
Indonesia will also be banking on world No. 19 Leo Rolly-Bagas Maulana in the Games.
In the last two editions of the Games, Indonesia have won the men's doubles titles through Pramudya Kusumawardana-Yeremia Rambitan (2023 in Cambodia) and Leo-Daniel Marthin (2021 in Vietnam) while Malaysia last claimed the gold in the event in 2019 in the Philippines through Aaron-Wooi Yik.
