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.