Taufik retains badminton men's singles title at Doha Asiad
10/12/2006 9:58
Indonesian Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat retained the badminton men's
singles title at the 15th Asian Games in Doha on Saturday. In the blue-ribbon
final, an experienced Taufik took charge in front of the net and forced Lin to
make many mistakes. After quickly winning the first set 21-15, the
25-year-old Indonesian top shuttler encountered a strong comeback from world
champion Lin. Lin overcame a 11-9 down in the second set by collecting six
points in a row, and grabbed three match points at 20-17. However, a
self-composed Taufik patiently dealt with Lin and clinched a 22-20 victory
through Lin's misplays. Before Taufik pulled off Indonesia's only badminton
gold at Doha Asian Games, veteran Wang Chen beat her teenage teammate Yip Pui
Yin in the women's singles final, grabbing the first ever badminton gold at
Asiad for Hong Kong, China. The 30-year-old Wang joined forces with
19-year-old Yip in the final after beating world number two Xie Xingfang of
China in the semifinals. Yip surprisingly finished off world number one Zhang
Ning of China in the quarterfinals. Wang hit long shuttles a lot to restrain
Yip's smashes, wrapping up the game 21-14 and 22-20. Previously, the Hong
Kong shuttlers only pulled off two bronzes at the 2002 Asian Games in Busan,
including Wang's women's singles bronze. Besides, newly-combined Malaysian
pair Koo Kien Keat and Tan Boon Heong won the only gold for Malaysia in the
men's doubles finals. Gao Ling and Huang Sui notched up the fourth gold for
China after beating their teammates Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen in the women's
doubles final. The 27-year-old Gao became the most prolific winner in the
badminton competition in Doha, as she also clinched the women's team and mixed
doubles gold.
Xinhua news
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