Thomas Cuppers give RI first gold at Asian Games
Thomas Cuppers give RI first gold at Asian Games
HIROSHIMA, Japan (Agencies): Indonesia broke the duck and got
into the gold medal winning club after a week of waiting at the
Hiroshima Asian Games as its reigning Thomas Cup team won the
prestigious men's title yesterday.
The Indonesians raced to a crushing 5-0 win over South Korea
in a lopsided final after a stirring contest for the women's
championship at the Tsuru Memorial Gymnasium.
The victory, the first men's team title after 20 years, ended
a bitter 16-year drought of Asian Games badminton gold medal
suffered by Indonesia, one of the world's powerhouses in the
sport.
South Korea, however, denied the Indonesians a golden double
when its tigerish women won an emotionally-charged final 4-1 to
land its first Asian Games team title.
The two finals were a repeat of semifinals in the men's Thomas
Cup and women's Uber Cup both of which Indonesia won to record a
rare double. Indonesian men and South Korean women beat the
reigning Asian Games champions China in the semifinals.
Both teams said they were satisfied with a gold and a silver.
Chinese and Malaysian men and Chinese and Japanese women, the
losing semifinalists, all won bronze medals.
"We are proud to win the first gold medal of the Games for
Indonesia," said manager Lufti Hamid.
Disappointed
"We are of course disappointed at the women not becoming the
champion. However, the Korean team performed extremely well and
they deserved to win today. We want to congratulate them."
Korean coach Kim Jong-soo said the Indonesian men, with three
players ranked among the top five and boasting the world's top
doubles combination, were too powerful for any team.
World ranked number one Ardy Wiranata ensured a flying start
for Indonesian men with a quick 15-8, 15-10 win over South
Korea's top player Park Sung-woo, who won a bronze at the Asian
championships.
He allowed Park to build a 9-0 lead in the second set before
reeling him in and ending the match 15-8, 15-10.
Ardy's delicate flicks and exquisite drop shots, mixed with
acrobatic dives for impossible returns left the 23-year-old
soldier gaping. Park once even threw up his hands in despair.
Park, on the other hand, committed too many errors while the
Indonesian played what he described as "safe badminton."
As he has done in his last two matches, world number two Joko
Suprianto struggled and gave up a game before overcoming Kim Hak-
kyun 11-15, 15-5, 15-8.
The world's top doubles combination of Rexy Mainaky and Ricky
Subagja then thrashed Ha Tae-kwon and Yoo Yong-sung 15-2, 15-8 to
give Indonesia an unbeatable lead.
"This is for the country," Ardy exulted after the victory.
In the dead fourth match, the veteran Rudy Gunawan and Bambang
Supriyanto bounced back from a first set deficit to beat Kang
Kyung-jin and Lee Suk-ho 10-15, 18-14, 15-10 in the only serious
contest of the final.
All England's two-time champion Hariyanto Arbi piled on the
agony in the last match when he disdainfully brushed aside Ahn
Jae-chang 15-3, 15-4.