The world No. 8 who only made the cut because compatriot Koo Kien Keat suffered an eye infection and withdrew last Saturday, were beaten 17-21, 13-21 in just 29 minutes.
Thien How-Wee Kiong, who were riding high from their Macau Open success, briefly threatened to give Ahsan-Setiawan a fight with a feisty start.
But the Indonesians, in particularly the experienced Setiawan gradually turned it around and were thoroughly dominant in notching a comfortable win.
“Their experience made the difference … they, Hendra especially, laid out a trap for us and made us play to their rhythm,” said Wee Kiong.
“We also got our strategy wrong and they managed to counter everything we threw at them.
“But there’s no time to dwell on this defeat, we have two matches to play in this group … we need to focus on that. We will figure out what needs to be done.”
Thien How added that they paid dearly for allowing Hendra to control the net.
“Hendra was simply spot on today. He was so fast and his timing at the net was simply perfect,” said Thien How.
The pair will face China’s Liu Xiaolong-Qiu Zihan on Thursday – a do-or-die match for both pairs who will need their first win in order to progress to the semi-finals.
thestar.com.my
