Sony defends Asian title in all-Indonesia final
Sony defends Asian title in all-Indonesia final
Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta
Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia defended his Asian championship
title but the home side must have rued its missed chances for
more titles in Sunday's finals.
Sony's 15-5, 7-15, 15-8 win over Taufik Hidayat in the
US$150,000 JVC Asian Badminton Championships final at the Bung
Karno Sports Complex gave him back-to-back titles after winning
in Bangkok last year, also at the expense of Taufik.
Indonesia collected another title in the mixed doubles through
Nova Widianto/Vita Marissa, who defeated compatriot pair Anggun
Nugroho/Eny Widianto 11-2, 11-5.
But the home players crumbled in their matches against foreign
opposition.
Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan failed to build on their upset
semifinal wins as the young Indonesian pair were dominated by the
experienced, 2002 Asian Games champions Lee Dong-soo/Yoo Yong-
sung, and finally went down 15-10, 15-11.
After managing to get to the finals, Silvi Antarini eventually
fell at the last hurdle. The young 19-year-old, who is widely
tipped as an Indonesian star of the future, found out that she
would need to work harder in the future.
Silvi, who is a victim of the recent eviction drive launched
by the Jakarta administration, was a weak reflection of the
world's number four and top tournament seed Wang Chen of Hong
Kong, with the Indonesian being defeated 11-6, 11-5.
The Korean team, which did not field its best line-up, will
still go home with two titles. The other was in the women's
doubles courtesy of Ra Kyung-min/Lee Kyung-won, who beat
teammates Lee Hyo-jung/Hwang Yu-mi 15-9, 15-7.
The center of attention was undoubtedly the men's singles
battle, in which Sony, 19, and Taufik, 22, took turns in evening
the opening two sets 1-1 and forcing the third.
Unlike in the opening sets where they beat each other in
relatively easy workouts, the third set ran tight with the points
being hard fought.
Taufik, who was fresh from his Indonesia Open title defense
last month, displayed unsportsmanlike behavior as the match was
neared the end.
Trailing 8-14, Taufik deliberately brought the game to an
immediate end by hitting Sony's short serve into the net to hand
Sony the victory.
Taufik, who has yet to find a coach after the abrupt departure
of Joko Suprianto, snubbed the media by failing to turn up at the
scheduled media conference.
After the match, Sony said he was happy to win his first title
this year.
Sunday's victory also means that eighth-ranked Sony is still
ahead of 14th-ranked Taufik as the former has won all of their
four meetings.
However, Sony humbly admitted that his skills were still
inferior to Taufik's, and that he won mostly because he was just
being persistent as instructed by his coach Joko Suprianto.
After the matches and the prize presentation ceremonies, a
special ceremony was held to honor Indonesian Badminton hero
Hendrawan, who is resigning from badminton.
Hendrawan, who has been forced to quit by injuries, was the
2001 world champion. He was also a silver medalist at the 1998
Asian Games and 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.
He helped Indonesia win three of its last five Thomas Cup --
the world's men's team competition -- victories.
The 31-year-old Hendrawan has been nominated as a badminton
envoy, with the task of promoting badminton around the world.