Badminton Denmark has apologized after mistakenly announcing that two Indonesian badminton pairs, Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto (left) as well as Marcus Gideon, Kevin Sukamuljo, were from Malaysia. (Instagram/pbsibadminton ina) (Instagram/pbsibadminton ina)
A
s two Indonesian men’s doubles badminton pairs were preparing to climb onto the podium as the respective winners and runners up of the 2022 Denmark Open on Sunday, the master of ceremonies made an unfortunate gaffe – announcing that the players were from Malaysia, not Indonesia.
Tribunnews reported that runners up Marcus Fernaldi Gideon and Kevin Sanjaya realized the mistake immediately and were surprised and confused as they climbed onto the podium.
Then, the master of ceremonies repeated the error, announcing that winners Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto were also Malaysian.
After the incident, Denmark’s badminton federation, Badminton Denmark, apologized on Twitter.
“We are truly sorry for the announcement mistake. Fajar Alfian/Muhammad Ardianto and Marcus Gideon/Kevin Sukamuljo are of course from INDONESIA! We know that. It was a human mistake, and we hope you can accept our apology.”
At the tournament, Fajar and Muhammad claimed a straight-set, 21-19, 28-26, victory over Marcus and Kevin. The event also marked Fajar and Muhammad’s first win at a Super 750 event.