Indonesian national anthem heard in Atlanta

Thu, 01 Aug 1996, 00:00 WIB | Source: JP

ATLANTA, Georgia (Agencies): The national anthem Indonesia
Raya was finally played at the Atlanta Olympics yesterday after
Indonesia's formidable pairing of Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky
clinched the men's badminton doubles title.

The Indonesian duo came back from a shaky start to win 5-15,
15-13, 15-12 over Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock, who were
bidding for Malaysia's first ever Olympic gold medal.

The victory salvaged Indonesia's pride which has been badly
shaken by the early exits of many of its world-class shuttlers,
including Susi Susanti and Alan Budikusuma, the women's and men's
gold medalists in Barcelona four years ago.

Another Olympic gold prospect will come in the women's singles
from Mia Audina, who takes on Bang Soo-hyun of South Korea today.

Besides the gold from Ricky and Rexy, Antonius and Danny
Kantono won the men's doubles bronze medal after beating
Malaysia's Soo Beng Kiang and Tan Kim Her 15-4, 12-15, 15-8 in
the play-off Tuesday. This brings Indonesia's medal tally to one
gold and one bronze.

Given the vociferous cheering from the Indonesian and
Malaysian supporters, one would have been forgiven for thinking
that yesterday's final at the Georgia State University was being
played in Kuala Lumpur or Jakarta. The supporters created a very
Southeast Asian atmosphere.

After dropping the first game, Ricky and Rexy shook off their
nerves in the second and developed the fast, hard and accurate
play which has helped them win all the major titles and the world
championship.

Then it was the turn of Yap, his head shaven for the final,
and Cheah to make a series of unforced errors as they were
outwitted by the Indonesian pair. The Malaysians were unable to
maintain a defense against the barrage of steep smashes from
Ricky and Rexy.

Nerves crept back in for Ricky and Rexy however. After leading
9-1, they let the Malaysian pair retake the lead 11-9. But
confidence returned in time for the Indonesians to wrap up the
game.

The decider was a very close struggle with the pairs moving
neck-and-neck and every point proving hard to win until 10-10.

The Malaysian pair had obviously done their homework well, as
they anticipated virtually every single shot that came their way.
Both Cheah and Hock were particularly impressive at the net.

Ricky was at times unsettled giving valuable points away. But
Rexy maintained his composure and delivered the telling blows.

It was only when the Indonesian pair trailed 10-12 that Ricky
found his form just when it counted most.

The Indonesian pair pulled back to 12-12, and then advanced to
15-12 to finish the match and clinch the gold after Ricky
unleashed his jumping smash and left the Malaysian defense
floundering.

Immediately after winning the final point, Ricky rushed to
embrace coach Christian Hadinata while Rexy simply fell on the
floor in tears.

There were more tears as they hugged the Indonesian officials,
including Minister of Sports and Youth Affairs Hayono Isman, the
chairman of the National Sports Council Wismoyo Arismunandar and
Indonesian Ambassador Arifin Siregar, as well as other members of
the Indonesian Olympic delegation.

To cap it all, the gold medals were presented by Indonesian
tycoon Mohammad (Bob) Hasan in his capacity as a member of the
International Olympic Committee.

In the earlier match, China's women's pairing of Ge Fei and Gu
Jun added Olympic gold to their world championship title after
outclassing their longstanding South Korean foes Gil Young-ah and
Jang Hye-ock 15-5, 15-5.