Taufik brings home Asian trophy

The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Taufik Hidayat beat fellow Indonesian and reigning champion Sony Dwi Kuncoro to win the Asian badminton trophy on Sunday in the finals in Kuala Lumpur.

Taufik extended the bout to three sets before stopping two- time Asian champion Sony 15-12, 7-15, 15-6, according to the tournament's website.

Indonesia brought home another trophy from the men's doubles, in which Sigit Budiarto and Tri Kusharjanto defeated Candra Wijaya and Halim Haryanto 15-3, 15-5 in the other all-Indonesian final.

Taufik's victory ended his losing streak against his younger teammate Sony, who prevailed against him in the past two finals -- in Bangkok in 2002 and Jakarta in 2003.

On Sunday, after leveling at one set apiece, Sony, ranked 13th in the world, was unable to take control in the third game and made a string of errors by hitting the shuttle out.

Taufik, with his powerful leaping smashes, pressured Sony in every area to round up the battle to his victory.

While dominating in the men's events, Indonesia saw poor performances elsewhere, with its women's players falling to the wayside.

In the mixed doubles, Nova Widiyanto and Vita Marissa failed to continue their winning form that earned them a title in Japan last week. They reached the semifinals only to lose out to eventual champions Ha Tae-kwon and Ra Kyung-min of South Korea.

It was Indonesia's latest defeat in their six meetings with the world champions.

Ha and Ra beat Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thungthungkam of Thailand 15-10, 17-14 in Sunday's final.

Jun Yae-youn gave the Korean team another title with a 11-9, 11-7 victory over Wang Chen of Hong Kong in the women's singles.

With two titles in the men's singles and doubles, Indonesia should be confident about entering the upcoming Thomas Cup, to be held here from May 7 to May 16, and its prospect of winning the cup for the sixth consecutive time.