S. Korea uses doubles to beat Indonesia
S. Korea uses doubles to beat Indonesia
HIROSHIMA, Japan (Reuter): South Korea boldly broke up their Olympic champion doubles pair and pulled off an audacious victory over Indonesia in the women's badminton team final yesterday.
Coaches of both sides said later the contest turned on the outcome of the two doubles matches, both won by South Korea. South Korean coach Kwon Seung-taik told Reuters he had no choice but to split the 1992 Barcelona Olympic champions Chung So-young and Gil Young-ah, putting one in each of the doubles.
"It was a strategy we had to use after losing to Indonesia in the Uber Cup earlier this year," Kwon said.
The gamble paid off, as Chung took control of the first doubles and helped her less accomplished partner Jang Hye-ock to beat the experienced Lily Tampi and Finarsih 15-5, 15-11.
The pair came out on the court with the event delicately poised at one-singles all.
The world number one Susi Susanti, who has won every tournament that counts, including the Barcelona Olympics and the All England, put Indonesia ahead in the first singles.
The ease with which Susi demolished her biggest rival in the world, Bang Soo-hyun, 11-5, 11-2 in 25 minutes, did not give an indication of the drama to follow.
South Korean coach Kwon offered Susi, whose team is the reigning world Uber Cup team, the ultimate compliment after the match.
"We always expect Susi to win," he said.
Susi herself was in a more generous mood, saying: "I think Bang was not at her best."
Bang herself believed she could not be ruled out of contention for the singles gold medal on yesterday's showing.
"I was feeling hot and tired after the match against China yesterday," she added. She had to fight hard to beat China's Ye Zhaoying 12-11, 12-10 in the semifinal on Saturday.
Ra Kyung-min, a 17-year-old student, restored parity for South Korea when she beat a nervous Juni Kartika 11-9, 11-8.
Kartika, whose fragile temperament made Indonesia replace her with the 16-year-old Mia Audina in the Uber Cup final it won against China, could not keep up with Ra's speed.
Mia was not in Hiroshima because of a leg injury.
New pair
With South Korea ahead 2-1 after the first doubles, the new pair of Elisa and Zelin Resiana had to keep the tie alive for Indonesia in the match against Gil and Shim Eun-jung.
The Indonesians, exploiting the weak link in their opponents, targetted a sluggish Shim with smashes and drop shots to win the first set 15-12.
Gil then began shielding Shim better, using delicate placements and power play to win the second set 15-10.
In the decider, Gil brought all her skills as a doubles specialist to play, besides calming Shim when she looked shaky. They made up a 6-0 deficit to win the match 15-11.
It clinched South Korea's first gold medal in the event.
In the dead last singles, Yuliani Sentosa, heroine of Saturday's semifinal against Japan, put up a brief resistance against Lee Heung-soon and then caved in meekly.
South Korea wound up the final 4-1, with Lee takling the fifth match 11-8, 11-5 from Yuliani, who had crushed Takako Ida 11-3, 11-4 in the semifinal, to edge out Japan 3-2.
China and Japan shared the third place.