Ricky and Rexy salvage RI's badminton pride
BANGKOK (JP): Olympic badminton men's doubles champions Ricky Ahmad Subagja and Rexy Ronald Mainaky retained their Asian Games crown on Thursday to restore Indonesia's pride after two other gold medals up for grabs slipped through the badminton team's fingers earlier in the day.
The Indonesian world number one pairing outclassed home favorites Pramote Teerawiwatana and Siripong Siripool who went down 5-15, 10-15 in less than one hour, despite the full support of the crowd packing the 5,000-seat Thammasat badminton gym.
For Indonesia, the victory came as a consolation after both Hendrawan in the men's singles and Deyana Lomban and Elysa Nathanael in the women's doubles failed to survive close three- set matches against Chinese opposition.
Hendrawan led Indonesia to a 4-0 victory over China in the men's team event last week for its first gold medal.
Hendrawan, a point shy of winning the first set, fell to Olympic silver medalist Dong Jiong 14-17, 15-10, 15-8. It was Hendrawan's second loss to the same opponent in as many encounters.
Deyana and Elysa looked set to hand China's world champions and Olympic gold medalists Ge Fei and Gu Jun their first defeat in two years when they took the opening set. But experience gave the Chinese the upper hand and they fought back to post a 12-15, 15-9, 15-11 win.
Unheralded Kaneko Yonekura sealed her Cinderella run with yet another upset 1-11, 11-5, 11-6 win over China's world number two Gong Zichou in the women's singles final. Her victory gave Japan its first Asiad badminton gold since Hiroe Yuki won the event in 1970.
World number 47 Yonekura toppled pre-tournament favorite and world number one Ye Zhaoying of China en route to the final.
Ricky and Rexy faced a scare when at 10-4 up in the second set they lost their concentration following a bad call from a linesman. They made a number of unforced errors to allow the Thais to close in to 12-10. But after taking a brief break to regroup, the Indonesians showed no mercy and unleashed a flurry of smash winners to settle the issue.
"I was out of control after the dubious call over the Thais' smash. It would have been wrong if we did not take a break then, and it paid off," Rexy said.
Rexy said he and his long-time partner were now eying their second Olympic gold medal at the Sydney games in 2000 before finally retiring.
"It's nice to win international sporting events like the Asiad and the Olympics, especially when you are about to retire," said Rexy, a father of two. "I dedicate the gold to my two children."
Hendrawan took a 14-10 lead in the first set, but Dong, who beat him in the Grand Prix Finals in Jakarta last year, used his speed and power to gradually wrest control of the game from the Indonesian. Hendrawan saved one set point, but it was not enough to stop the advance of the Chinese player.
"I'm not in a good shape, I've had fever for two days, but that's not an excuse for my loss. Dong played much better with his smashes," said Hendrawan. His face showed the traces of tears.
Hendrawan said doctors had suggested that he undergo a medical check-up as soon as he arrives back in Jakarta. He has canceled plans to compete in the Copenhagen Master late this month.
"I'll prepare myself for the Final Grand Prix in Brunei Darussalam in January," he said.
Despite the defeats, Indonesian badminton players have good reason to smile because the Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) has provided them with generous cash bonuses. PBSI deputy chairman Agus Wirahadikusumah said that a gold medal was worth Rp 60 million ($6,700), a silver Rp 30 million and a bronze Rp 20 million. (yan)