Flandi/Eng Hian win Copenhagen Masters
The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Flandi Limpele and Eng Hian ended their disappointing 2004 campaign on a high note by beating Shang Yang and Zheng Bo of China in the men's doubles final at the Copenhagen Masters on Wednesday.
Flandi and Eng Hian defeated the Chinese pair 15-13, 15-5, according to the tournament's website, www.badminton.dk.
The Indonesian pair of Candra Wijaya and Halim Haryanto also won the title.
For Flandi and Eng Hian, the path to the final began with a difficult match against Tan Bin Shen and Ong Soon Hock of Malaysia, which the Indonesians won 15,13, 16-17, 15-10. They then defeated Lars Paaske and Jonas Rasmussen of Denmark 15-12, 15-13 to book a spot in the final.
Shang and Zheng advanced to the final with victories over Jens Eriksen and Martin Lundgaard of Denmark 15-10, 15-10, and Simon Archer and Robert Blair of England 17-15, 15-13.
The Copenhagen victory was Flandi and Eng Hian's only title of the year. The pair crashed out in the semifinals of the Indonesia Open last week.
The pair's victory also offered some consolation for the Indonesian team after Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat, fresh off his triumph at the Indonesia Open, had a disappointing run in the men's singles competition.
Drawn in Group 1, Taufik failed to reach the final after suffering two defeats, losing 15-8, 15-6 to Peter Gade of Denmark and 15-6, 15-8 to Malaysia's Wong Choong Hann.
Peter Gade went on to win the men's singles title, defeating countryman Kenneth Jonassen 15-8, 7-15, 15-7 in the final. Jonassen topped Group 2 over China's Xia Xuanze and Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei.
The Copenhagen Masters is an unofficial tournament on the International Badminton Federation calender, and features a select group of players competing in only three of the normally sanctioned five events.
The event provided a total of 320,000 Danish krone (about US$53,740) in cash prizes.
Jens Eriksen and Mette Schjoldager prevailed over Carsten Mogensen and Rikke Olsen 15-7, 15-9 in an all-Danish mixed doubles final.
Indonesia did not have any representatives in the mixed doubles.