RI wins women's badminton gold<\/p>\n
SHAH ALAM, Malaysia (AP): Longtime champion Indonesia
\nreasserted its dominance of women's team badminton at the
\nSoutheast Asian Games Tuesday, beating Thailand 3-1 for the gold
\nmedal.<\/p>\n
Although badminton standards in the world's fourth most
\npopulous nation have slipped a little since its heyday of the
\nearly 1990s, Indonesia has not lost the title since 1977.
\nMalaysia and Vietnam took bronze.<\/p>\n
Shaking off her poor form in Monday's semifinals, Indonesia's
\nLydia Djaelawijaya, the women's singles top seed, beat Thailand's
\nSujitra in the opening singles 11-7, 11-2.<\/p>\n
The doubles pair of Deyana Lomban and Vita Marissa put the
\nIndonesians 2-0 up with a 15-10, 15-6 victory over Saralee
\nThoungthongkam and Satinee of Thailand.<\/p>\n
A gutsy singles performance from Salakjit Ponsana, 17, put the
\nThais back in contention.<\/p>\n
After losing the first set 11-6 and winning the second 11-2
\nagainst Yuli Marfuah, Thailand's second-ranked singles player
\nfought back from 0-6 to clinch the decider 11-8, briefly
\nsilencing the spirited Indonesian supporters.<\/p>\n
But a new doubles pairing of Emma Ermawati and Eny Erlangga,
\n20, making her debut for the Indonesian women's team, powered
\npast Duangchong and Kunchala of Thailand 15-7, 15-8 to clinch the
\ngold.<\/p>\n
\"I think it's a special day for the Indonesian team,\" said
\nChristian Hadinata, the team manager. \"It's great for morale too
\nas we look forward to the individual matches.\"<\/p>\n
Christian was especially happy with Eny's performance as she
\nprepares for the singles. But he tipped Lydia, the world No. 10,
\nto become champion if she keeps playing as well as she did
\nTuesday.<\/p>\n
Sompol Kookasemkit, the Thai team manager, was stoic about the
\ndefeat.<\/p>\n
\"Our team were the underdogs and we tried our best. The first
\nsingles was disappointing because she (Sujitra) was out of form,\"
\nthe former top badminton player said.<\/p>\n
But the determined performance of young prospect Salakjit was
\na bonus. She will also contest the singles, starting Wednesday.<\/p>\n
\"In the future we hope she can do well. Right now she's still
\nquite young, still growing,\" he said.<\/p>",
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