Indonesia retains men's Asiad badminton team title

By Primastuti Handayani

BANGKOK (JP): A new look Indonesian men's badminton team cruised to back-to-back titles at the Asian Games on Friday, ending a nearly week long gold medal drought for Indonesia.

China, viewed as the side most capable of stopping Indonesia, surprisingly failed to offer much resistance. China called it a day after defending champion Indonesia sprinted out to a 4-0 lead.

The badminton hall at the Thammasat University sports complex erupted into cheers from a sparse crowd of flag waving Indonesian supporters when their team stepped up for the medals presentation.

The crowd sang patriotic songs while yelling their support to debutant and number two singles player Taufik Hidayat, who settled the issue with a stylish 15-6, 15-5 win over China's Luo Yigang.

National Sports Council chairman Wismoyo Arismunandar, Badminton Association of Indonesia vice chairman Agus Wirahadikusumah and other sports officials and Indonesian journalists joined the victory celebration.

"I smarted from a loss to Roslin Hashim of Malaysia in the semifinals. I couldn't sleep last night. I thought over and over, if everybody else on the team could win, why couldn't I," a perspiring Taufik said.

"Hendrawan's opening win bolstered my self-confidence. It meant a lot to me," said 17-year-old Taufik, a recipient of an Olympics Solidarity scholarship.

Indonesia got off to a convincing start, with Hendrawan taming an unusually uninspired world number two Sun Jun 15-6, 15-7. The world number one pairing of Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky crushed the newly formed tandem of Zhang Jun and Zhang Wei 15-11, 15-8 to give Indonesia a 2-0 lead.

After Taufik clinched Indonesia's win, All England men's doubles finalists Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan, playing merely for pride, dispatched Liu Yong and Yu Jinhao 15-0, 15-11.

Hendrawan said that he felt loose and free playing the crucial opening match against an opponent he beat en route to winning the Singapore Open in August.

"The first singles decides the course of the battle. A win will inspire the whole team to play better, but a loss will drop the team's morale. Thank God I could handle it," said 26-year-old Hendrawan, who was also making his Asian Games debut.

"This is my first, and could be my last, appearance in the Asian Games, but I enjoyed it and was happy to play the first singles," said Hendrawan, who plans to get married after the 2000 Olympics.

Hendrawan combined brilliant drives, lobs and finishing smashes to dictate the match from the outset. He maintained a slow and steady rhythm while waiting for Sun to commit unforced errors.

The victory was a special present for national training center director Christian Hadinata, who celebrated his 49th birthday on Friday.

"This is the most valuable birthday present I've ever had," said Christian.

Agus could not hide his elation, particularly after the Indonesian women's team lost to South Korea in the semifinals on Thursday.

"This victory gives our nation pride. We now look ahead to win golds in the 2000 Olympics," Agus said.

China took the gold in the women's team event, beating South Korea 3-1. Ye Zhaoying beat Kim Ji-hyun 11-9, 13-10. The world number one doubles team of Ge Fei and Gu Jun defeated Ra Kyung- min and Chung Jae-hee 15-13, 15-11. Gong Zhichao beat Lee Joo- hyun 11-4, 11-1, while Zhang Ning and Tang Hetian lost to Kim Shin-young and Yim Kyung-jin 11-15, 7-15. (yan)