Ricky, Rexy ease RI's agony at All England
Ricky, Rexy ease RI's agony at All England
BIRMINGHAM, England (Agencies): World men's doubles champions Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky salvaged Indonesia's pride by retaining their All England badminton title yesterday.
Playing a superb attacking game, Ricky and Rexy were too much for their Malaysian arch-rivals Cheah Soon Kit and Yap Kim Hock who gave up 6-15, 5-15 in just half an hour.
The victory served as consolation for the Indonesian side, which has come to be known as the world's strongest badminton powerhouse over the last three years. Indonesia had just received its heaviest blow here with the departure of their singles stars.
Olympic women's singles gold medalist Susi Susanti was the last to come a cropper when she crashed to South Korea's Bang Soo-hyun 11-7, 5-11, 11-4 in Friday's semifinals.
It was the third title of the year for the Indonesian number one pair, following their victories in the Japan Open and Korean Open in January. They have now won all major titles, except the Olympic gold medals, which will be at stake in Atlanta in July.
Poul-Erik Hoyer-Larsen of Denmark represented Europe's badminton revival when he retained his men's singles title with another brilliant display, overwhelming seasoned but error-ridden Malaysian Rashid Sidek 15-7, 15-6.
Hoyer-Larsen had produced some fine badminton on Friday to brush aside world championship runner-up Park Sung-woo of South Korea.
The Dane second seed hit the heights again in the final, racing to a 9-1 lead in the first game and a 7-1 advantage in the second. There was no way back for Sidek despite the vociferous support given him by Malaysian fans.
Sidek, the second Malaysian to reach the All England final since Foo Kok Keong in 1993, looked jaded against the spirited Dane.
Hoyer-Larsen, mixing power with disguise and subtlety, looked every inch a potential Olympic champion -- now his chief aim of 1996.
Later on the day, Bang claimed her first All England crown with a 11-1, 11-1 crushing of an uninspiring world champion Ye Zhaoying of China. The surprising outcome leaves the race for Olympic gold medals wide open among the world's top three players Ye, Bang and Susi.