Indonesia shows its might with badminton wins
By Primastuti Handayani
BANDAR SERI BEGAWAN (JP): Indonesia kept its badminton supremacy at the Southeast Asian Games intact by winning three individual titles here on Saturday.
Victories from men's singles shuttler Taufik Hidayat, women's singles Cindana Hartono and the women's doubles team of Cynthia Tuwankotta and Etty Tantri contributed to Indonesia's collection of five gold medals out of a possible seven.
But Indonesia suffered an upset in the men's doubles when Thailand's second seeded team of Pramote Teerawiwatana and Tesana Pansisavas defeated top seeded Indonesians Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian 15-8, 8-15, 15-13.
Earlier this week, Indonesia, fielding a team heavy on young players, won both the men's and women's team golds.
Taufik showed maturity beyond his age in his stretched-set win over Malaysia's Wong Choon Han in a nail-biting final. It took top seeded Taufik nearly two hours to wrap up a 15-10, 11-15, 15- 11 win.
"This is the best birthday present for me. I could win two gold medals and I became the person who achieved that feat," said Taufik, who celebrated his 18th birthday on Aug. 10.
In the match that resumed the long-standing rivalry between the world's badminton powerhouses Indonesian and Malaysia, both Taufik and Wong traded jumping smashes and rallies, to the delight of the flag-waving crowd of 4,000 who filled the Hassanal Bolkiah Indoor Stadium.
Winning the relatively easy opening set, Taufik began to lose his touch and was left trailing almost throughout the second set. He pulled level at 11-11, but accumulated a string of unforced errors to let Wong force a tie breaker.
The match was equally balanced in the deciding set, with the two players tied at 10-10 until Wong committed unnecessary mistakes at that crucial stage. Taufik raced to 14-11, before Wong hit a wide smash that put the issue beyond doubt.
Jubilant Taufik approached his supporters and shook their hands as he celebrated his first victory in the biennial event.
Wong could not hide his tears following his defeat.
"I was quite frustrated and I made many unforced errors at critical points. I was out of my control," said the 22-year-old shuttler, who also lost to Taufik in the men's team final on Tuesday.
Bridesmaid
Indonesia retained the women's singles gold medal, thanks to top seed Cindana Hartono who defeated fourth seed Sujitra Eakmongkolpaisarn of Thailand 11-5, 11-2.
Making her debut, Cindana, a long-time bridesmaid to her controversial teammate Mia Audina who has moved to the Netherlands, hardly broke a sweat in winning her third straight win over the 22-year-old Thai.
"This victory is really special because this is the first time I compete in the SEA Games and I can win it. I'm the top seed here and fortunately I managed to overcome the psychological pressures," said the 23-year-old Indonesian.
"I'm highly motivated to win the Games and I was fully confident of doing so. We have met several times before, so I knew how to cope with her," she added.
Cindana said Sujitra was not in her top form, apparently because she had to play two matches in Friday's semifinals.
"Sujitra still played well but I think she already ran out of steam going to the singles final," Cindana said.
In the all-Indonesian women's doubles final, Cynthia and Etty downed teammates Emma Ermawati and Indarti Issoliana 17-15, 15-6.
Malaysia earned the mixed doubles gold, after Chew Choon Eng and Chor Hoi Yee defeated compatriots Rosman Razak and Norhasikin 12-15, 15-6, 15-7. It was the first time in history that the mixed doubles title has slipped through Indonesia's grasp since the country joined the Games in 1977.