Taufik mesmerizes Shon to strike gold<\/p>\n
Agencies, Athens<\/p>\n
Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat won the gold medal in the Olympic
\nmen's singles badminton here on Saturday after defeating South
\nKorean seventh seed Shon Seung-mo 15-8, 15-7 in the final.<\/p>\n
Sony Dwi Kuncoro, also from Indonesia, took the bronze.<\/p>\n
Taufik's spellbinding win, which oozed class and confidence,
\nsaw him emulate legendary compatriot Alan Budi Kusuma, who took
\ngold in the men's singles in Barcelona 12 years ago.<\/p>\n
Roared on by hundreds of Indonesian supporters whose cheers
\nfilled the Goudi Olympic Hall, Taufik, a quarterfinalist at the
\nSydney Games, appeared to be suffering from stage fright in the
\nopening exchanges, a glut of unforced errors allowing Shon to
\nsteam into a 7-1 lead.<\/p>\n
But the temperamental 23-year-old steadied his nerves to take
\n13 points in a row as Shon was pounded into submission by
\nTaufik's trademark leaping smashes and crafty drop-shots.<\/p>\n
Taufik, who beat Shon in the semifinals of the Asian
\nchampionships earlier this year before taking the title, allowed
\none more point to slip before sealing the first game.<\/p>\n
Shon, partially sighted in his right eye after being hit in
\nthe face by a shuttlecock when he was 15, went 3-0 up in the
\nsecond only for Taufik to turn the screw, winning the next 12
\npoints.<\/p>\n
The Korean tried to stage comeback but Taufik was too
\npowerful, conceding just four more points before killing off a
\none-sided encounter.<\/p>\n
Taufik sank to his knees and covered his face with his hands
\nafter ending Shon's resilience with a strong forehand smash.<\/p>\n
Sony defeated Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana 15-11, 17-16 to take
\nthe bronze. Indonesia also won bronze in the men's doubles pair
\nof Eng Hian and Flandy Limpele on Friday.<\/p>\n
Boonsak took an 8-3 lead in the first game, but Sony rallied
\nto level at 10-10 and took advantage of his opponent's errors to
\nwin 15-11.<\/p>\n
Sony opened up a 5-1 lead in the second game only for the Thai
\nto overtake for a 14-11 lead and threaten to push the match into
\na third game. Sony dug deep, diving to retrieve smashes to edge
\nthe game 17-16.<\/p>\n
Chinese top seeds Zhang Jiewen and Yang Wei defeated
\ncompatriots Huang Sui and Gao Ling 7-15, 15-4, 15-8 in the final
\nof the women's doubles to win the gold medal.<\/p>\n
China was denied a clean sweep of medals in the women's
\ndoubles when South Korean pair Ra Kyung-min and Lee Kyung-won
\nbeat Zhao Tingting and Wei Yili 10-15, 15-9, 15-7to claim the
\nbronze.<\/p>\n
Winners of four of the five badminton medals on offer in
\nSydney, China has taken three medals this time around. Zhang Ning
\nwon the women's singles, while Zhang Jun and Gao Ling were
\nvictorious in the mixed doubles.<\/p>\n
Ra, 27, who was expected to win gold in the mixed doubles with
\nher partner Kim Dong-moon, only for the pair to lose in the
\nquarterfinals, took some consolation from ending her last
\nOlympics with a medal.<\/p>",
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