Hidayat wins men's
singles badminton
Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat won the Asian Games men's badminton gold even as more player protests
scarred the concluding day of the tournament in Busan on Monday.
Hidayat gave another glimpse of his temperamental nature
in the final against South Korean Lee Hyun Il, which he won
15-7, 15-9, but only after disputing a line call that held up
play for five minutes.
Later in the women's doubles final, the Chinese pair of
Gao Ling and Huang Sui too protested and their match against
South Koreans Ra Kyung-Min and Lee Kyung-Won was stopped for
10 minutes in the second game.
Hidayat had staged a two-hour walk-out during the team
championship final against South Korea citing biased calls by
South Korean linesmen.
The 22-year-old Indonesian had lost his match of that tie
to Shon Seuong-Mo but extracted revenge in the men's
semi-finals.
That match went off smoothly but Hidayat held up the
final when he was 9-8 up in the second game.
Chief referee Boon Kong Ee of Singapore intervened to
control the situation and said the call was good. Hidayat
though insisted it was a bad one.
"You feel bad when you get such decisions but I'm getting
used to it," said Hidayat. "There was great pressure on me but
I guess so was it on Lee.
"I thought he didn't play a good game today," he said
about left-handed Lee, who is currently ranked 13th in the
world, one place above Hidayat.
Hidayat attacked from early on to wrest the initiative in
the first game, going from 3-5 down to 14-5 up before wrapping
it up. In the second, the scores went neck-and-neck till 9-9
after which Hidayat pulled away.
"It's wonderful winning the gold but it would have been
better had we won the team gold too," said Hidayat.
"I was aiming for two gold medals. It feels bad to be a
member of one of two teams that have lost to South Korea in an
Asian Games final."
Hidayat could not hide his jubilation at sealing victory
over Lee with a delightful flick that caught his opponent out
of position.
The Indonesian clenched his fists and roared his delight
in the direction of line judges before waving to Indonesian
fans in the stands.
There were similar scenes of joy later in the day as the
third-seeded Korean pair of Ra Kyung-Min and Lee Kyung-Won
prevailed over second seeds Gao Ling and Huang Sui 11-8, 11-7
in a tense match.
The Chinese pair refused to carry on when the score was
3-3 in the second game after they had lost the first.
They insisted the umpire have a look at a replay on the
big television screen before awarding the Koreans their fourth
point of the game.
Once again, officials of the Asian Badminton
Confederation had to come in to ensure resumption of the
match.