Earlier this month Marcus Fernaldi Gideon announced his retirement.
He and @kevinnsanjaya Sukamuljo captivated the hearts of badminton fans from every corner of the globe with their exuberant and relentless attacking style of play.
Kevin’s lightning-fast reactions, together with his outrageous and inspirational shot selection was unlike anything seen before, but the reason he had the freedom to play his cavalier style was because of Gideon’s unrelenting willingness to cover the gaps and work hard from the back of the court.
In their prime, the “minions” ability to use each other’s strengths in their playing style resulted in their complete domination of the men’s doubles discipline.
For the record (as a pair):-
⏺️ 2018 Asian Games Gold🥇.
⏺️ WR 1 for a total of 227 weeks.
⏺️ 4 x finished the year ranked 1 on the Race to the SS/WT Finals.
⏺️ Won 29 of the first 33 finals they contested.
⏺️ 32 titles from 43 career finals as a pair.
⏺️ The most successful men’s doubles PAIR in SS & WT (Level 500 & above) history with 29 titles – Jung Jae Sung/Lee Yong Dae second with 18 titles.
⏺️ More WT titles (19) than the current top 3 MD pairs combined – Rankireddy/Shetty (7), Kang/Seo (5), Liang/Wang (6).
⏺️ The only MD pair to win the same tournament 4 consecutive times in the SS/WT era – the China Open in Fuzhou 2016, ’17, ’18, ’19.
⏺️ Won 5 different tournaments at least 3 consecutive times – China Open (Fuzhou), India Open, Japan Open, Indonesia Open, Indonesia Masters.
I’m sure I’m not the only one to miss seeing them play, but how lucky we are to have witnessed such a dynamic and exciting pair.
Wishing you a very happy retirement Marcus, and all good wishes for the next chapter in your life.
#GillsFunFact
📷@badmintonphoto@INABadminton
Pak Luhut, Erick Thohir dpt award pendekar pandemi. Saya sbg rakyat kudu blg terima kasih pd mrk kah? Award ini menggangguku, apalagi kalau ingat susah cari RS, oksigen mahal & pmrth malah sibuk bela diri. Papa saya meninggal sesak napas, 29 Juni 2021.
https://t.co/TlEkESjUNE