The Hindu : Hidayat reigns supreme

Online edition of India's National Newspaper
Wednesday, Oct 16, 2002

Sport

Sport - Asian Games

Hidayat reigns supreme

By A. Vinod

BUSAN Oct. 15. Taufik Hidayat, the former World No. 1, landed Indonesia's first badminton gold of the 14th Asian Games as he won the men's singles at the expense of South Korea's Lee Hyun-Il 15-7, 15-9 at the Gangseo Gymnasium courts on Monday.

Much against the expectations, the title-round clash was a rather tame affair as the Indonesian superstar gave little room for his South Korean rival to manoeuvre, before establishing his supremacy in just under 45 minutes.

Lee, for all the support that he received from the crowd, was unable to match the classy Indonesian in any way as Hidayat all along kept him on the defensive.

Using his reach to bring off some delectable drop shots, Hidayat was also a picture of confidence at the net as Lee tried to outwit him with placements near to the screen.

With the scores tied at 3-all, the Indonesian pushed himself too hard and thereby committed quite a few unforced errors. But then, Hidayat was to rattle off eleven points in-a-row and rush to set point within no time, mixing his smashes and drops with good effect.

The second set, in contrast, saw Lee putting up more resistance as he tried to get himself into the match, with crafty court-coverage and an improved display at the net. However, Hidayat never gave the Korean the expected leeway as he kept himself within striking distance all the time.

The final set was also marked by drama as Hidayat, who had been in the eye of a storm during the team final against the home team four days ago, protested against a ruling given by a Korean linesman.

Three referees, deputed by the Asian Badminton Confederation, were around the court overlooking the proceedings when Hidayat, thinking that a smash from Lee had landed wide, threw his arms up and got into an argument with the chair umpire. Five minutes was gone by the time when play resumed with the umpire upholding the linesman's decision.

The score, at that stage was 9-8 in Hidayat's favour. And though the decision seemed to ruffle the Indonesian, currently ranked only 14th in the world rankings, his grit and determination was there for all to see as he held on brilliantly and inched forward to a deserving win. He conceded just one more point before attaining victory.

"I am very proud to win this gold for Indonesia, even though our target was more than one. It was a personal challenge too since I had never lost to a South Korean player in the Asian Games before", said the champion.

South Korea, despite this defeat, still boosted its gold medal tally to four out of a possible seven when it took both the men's doubles and women's doubles titles later in the day. While Lee Dong Soo and Yoo Yong Sung expectedly beat the Thai pair of Pramote Teerwiwatana and Tesana Panvisavas 15-11, 15-6 in 38 minutes, the triumph of Ra Kyung-Min and Lee Kyung-Won in the women's double was marked by an 11-8, 11-7 upset win over the top-seeded Chinese pair Gao Ling and Huang Sui.

The women's event also saw an interruption when the Chinese duo kept away from the court for nearly twenty minutes, protesting in vain a decision that went against them. However, on this day, Gao Ling and Huang Sui was not a match to their South Korean rival who romped home in an hour and thirty minutes.

The results (finals):

Men: Singles: Taufik Hidayat (Ina) bt Lee Hyun-Il (Kor) 15-7, 15-9. Doubles: Lee Dong-Soo & Yoo Yong-Song (Kor) bt Pramote Teerawiwatana & Tesana Panvisavas (Tha) 15-11, 15-6.

Women's doubles: Lee Kyung-Won & Ra Kyung-Min (Kor) bt Gao Ling & Huang Sui (Chn) 11-8, 11-7.

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