Indonesia nets badminton team titles at Games
Indonesia nets badminton team titles at Games
By Primastuti Handayani
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (JP): Indonesia beat old nemesis Malaysia
3-0 in the Southeast Asian Games men's badminton team final on
Tuesday in a tie which closely resembled their long-standing
Thomas Cup rivalry.
The gold completed Indonesia's double of team titles after the
national women's squad trounced Thailand by the same score
earlier in the day to keep intact its two-decade-long supremacy.
Ronny Agustinus, making his debut, clinched the gold medal for
the Indonesian men after a nail-biting 15-8, 5-15, 15-10 win over
Malaysian veteran Rashid Sidek.
Taufik Hidayat put the team 1-0 ahead after a surprisingly
lop-sided 15-5, 15-2 defeat of Commonwealth Games champion Wong
Choon Han. The pairing of Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian opened up
the lead to 2-0 with a hard-earned 15-3, 9-15, 15-12 win over the
duo of Lee Wan Wah and Choong Tan Fook.
"When I won the first set, I thought it might be because the
wind was on my side of the stadium, so I prepared myself for a
tougher match in the second game. But Wong played recklessly and
I was also surprised that I could win that game easily," said
Taufik, who celebrated his 18th birthday on Tuesday.
"I think Wong is a bit moody. When he is in a bad mood, he
plays very poorly, worse than his usual form," the All England
finalist said.
The match of the day was the doubles, which saw Flandy and Eng
Hian play erratically to drop a game but then come back strongly
to unleash a flurry of attacks for the win.
"In the second game, Lee and Choong changed their tactics by
drilling cross-court drop shots. We were left in doubt because of
the wind inside the stadium which affected the direction of
shuttlecock," Eng Hian said of the second-game loss.
The meaningless final two matches in the best-of-five contest
were scrapped.
The team received their gold medals from former Badminton
Association of Indonesia (PBSI) chairman Try Sutrisno, who is
also a former Indonesian vice president, amid noisy cheers from
nearly 300 supporters who packed the Hassanal Bolkiah indoor
stadium.
Women's event
Except for the deciding doubles match, the Indonesian women
experienced little trouble in overcoming the Thai opposition.
The pairing of Cynthia Tuwankotta and Etty Tantri were forced
to play an extra game before clinching Indonesia's gold medal
with a 15-9, 6-15, 15-2 win over Sujitra Eakmongkolpaisarn and
Saralee Toongthongkam.
Etty blamed the second-game loss to inconsistent play.
"We should have not made so many unforced errors in the second
game. Our opponents pushed us to raise the pace and that led us
to lose control of the shuttlecock," Etty said.
"We shouldn't have played a deciding game, but at least it let
us know their strengths and weaknesses."
The Indonesian pair forced the rallies and dictated the match
as the Thais ran out of steam in the deciding game.
The two remaining matches were not played.
First singles Cindana Hartono played patiently to tame Sujitra
Eakmongkolpaisarn 11-6, 11-1. She was not forced to use all her
technical expertise in the easy win.
The players are tied 2-2 in head-to-head meetings.
"Sujitra played really well today and I think it was not easy
to beat her," Cindana said.
Second singles Lidya Djaelawidjaja trounced Satinee
Jankrajangwong 11-0, 11-2.
Deputy team manager Retno Kustiyah praised Lidya's nearly
flawless performance.
"Lidya has gained self-confidence. She was aggressive at the
net. She made few unforced errors and her drops and cross-court
placements gave her victory," she said.
"Satinee is actually a good player, but she still needs time
to reach a world-class standard."