Taufik mesmerizes Shon to strike gold
Taufik mesmerizes Shon to strike gold
Agencies, Athens
Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat won the gold medal in the Olympic men's singles badminton here on Saturday after defeating South Korean seventh seed Shon Seung-mo 15-8, 15-7 in the final.
Sony Dwi Kuncoro, also from Indonesia, took the bronze.
Taufik's spellbinding win, which oozed class and confidence, saw him emulate legendary compatriot Alan Budi Kusuma, who took gold in the men's singles in Barcelona 12 years ago.
Roared on by hundreds of Indonesian supporters whose cheers filled the Goudi Olympic Hall, Taufik, a quarterfinalist at the Sydney Games, appeared to be suffering from stage fright in the opening exchanges, a glut of unforced errors allowing Shon to steam into a 7-1 lead.
But the temperamental 23-year-old steadied his nerves to take 13 points in a row as Shon was pounded into submission by Taufik's trademark leaping smashes and crafty drop-shots.
Taufik, who beat Shon in the semifinals of the Asian championships earlier this year before taking the title, allowed one more point to slip before sealing the first game.
Shon, partially sighted in his right eye after being hit in the face by a shuttlecock when he was 15, went 3-0 up in the second only for Taufik to turn the screw, winning the next 12 points.
The Korean tried to stage comeback but Taufik was too powerful, conceding just four more points before killing off a one-sided encounter.
Taufik sank to his knees and covered his face with his hands after ending Shon's resilience with a strong forehand smash.
Sony defeated Thailand's Boonsak Ponsana 15-11, 17-16 to take the bronze. Indonesia also won bronze in the men's doubles pair of Eng Hian and Flandy Limpele on Friday.
Boonsak took an 8-3 lead in the first game, but Sony rallied to level at 10-10 and took advantage of his opponent's errors to win 15-11.
Sony opened up a 5-1 lead in the second game only for the Thai to overtake for a 14-11 lead and threaten to push the match into a third game. Sony dug deep, diving to retrieve smashes to edge the game 17-16.
Chinese top seeds Zhang Jiewen and Yang Wei defeated compatriots Huang Sui and Gao Ling 7-15, 15-4, 15-8 in the final of the women's doubles to win the gold medal.
China was denied a clean sweep of medals in the women's doubles when South Korean pair Ra Kyung-min and Lee Kyung-won beat Zhao Tingting and Wei Yili 10-15, 15-9, 15-7to claim the bronze.
Winners of four of the five badminton medals on offer in Sydney, China has taken three medals this time around. Zhang Ning won the women's singles, while Zhang Jun and Gao Ling were victorious in the mixed doubles.
Ra, 27, who was expected to win gold in the mixed doubles with her partner Kim Dong-moon, only for the pair to lose in the quarterfinals, took some consolation from ending her last Olympics with a medal.