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.