Ricky, Rexy ease RI's agony at All England<\/p>\n
BIRMINGHAM, England (Agencies): World men's doubles champions
\nRicky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky salvaged Indonesia's pride by
\nretaining their All England badminton title yesterday.<\/p>\n
Playing a superb attacking game, Ricky and Rexy were too much
\nfor their Malaysian arch-rivals Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock
\nwho gave up 6-15, 5-15 in just half an hour.<\/p>\n
The victory served as consolation for the Indonesian side,
\nwhich has come to be known as the world's strongest badminton
\npowerhouse over the last three years. Indonesia had just received
\nits heaviest blow here with the departure of their singles stars.<\/p>\n
Olympic women's singles gold medalist Susi Susanti was the
\nlast to come a cropper when she crashed to South Korea's Bang
\nSoo-hyun 11-7, 5-11, 11-4 in Friday's semifinals.<\/p>\n
It was the third title of the year for the Indonesian number
\none pair, following their victories in the Japan Open and Korean
\nOpen in January. They have now won all major titles, except the
\nOlympic gold medals, which will be at stake in Atlanta in July.<\/p>\n
Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark represented Europe's
\nbadminton revival when he retained his men's singles title with
\nanother brilliant display, overwhelming seasoned but error-ridden
\nMalaysian Rashid Sidek 15-7, 15-6.<\/p>\n
Hoyer-Larsen had produced some fine badminton on Friday to
\nbrush aside world championship runner-up Park Sung-woo of South
\nKorea.<\/p>\n
The Dane second seed hit the heights again in the final,
\nracing to a 9-1 lead in the first game and a 7-1 advantage in the
\nsecond. There was no way back for Sidek despite the vociferous
\nsupport given him by Malaysian fans.<\/p>\n
Sidek, the second Malaysian to reach the All England final
\nsince Foo Kok Keong in 1993, looked jaded against the spirited
\nDane.<\/p>\n
Hoyer-Larsen, mixing power with disguise and subtlety, looked
\nevery inch a potential Olympic champion -- now his chief aim of
\n1996.<\/p>\n
Later on the day, Bang claimed her first All England crown
\nwith a 11-1, 11-1 crushing of an uninspiring world champion Ye
\nZhaoying of China. The surprising outcome leaves the race for
\nOlympic gold medals wide open among the world's top three players
\nYe, Bang and Susi.<\/p>",
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