China, South Korea Triumph Again in Games Badminton

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Monday, October 14, 2002

China, South Korea Triumph Again in Games Badminton

South Korea and China each bagged home another badminton gold as they won mixed doubles and women's singles title respectively in the Asian Games Sunday.

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South Korea and China each bagged home another badminton gold as they won mixed doubles and women's singles title respectively in the Asian Games Sunday.

Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min hardly sweated as they stormed to the mixed doubles gold after overwhelming their Thai opponents 11-4, 11-0 in merely 22 minutes.

"We were determined to defend the title before the match,"said Kim, who had been cooperating with Ra for six years. "We knew we were to win even before the final."

Kim and Ra have been reigning Asian mixed doubles area this year as they won in all tournaments they attended.

Chinese pair Chen Qiqiu and Zhang Jiewen shared the bronze with Nova Widhianto and Vita Marissa of Indonesia.

China pulled off one more gold thanks to their women shuttlers as world number one Zhou Mi beat her teammate Gong Ruina 11-1, 11-1 in an easy manner.

It was surprising to many as Gong has been in an advantageous position this year with three wins and two losses, including this one.

"Maybe my defeat lay in the lack of motivation, especially against my compatriot in the final," said Gong after expressing congratulations to Zhou.

Zhou was happy with her gold. "Since it is a major international event, I made thorough preparation beforehand," said Zhou. "Actually I try to learn something from every events I participated, which will improve on my game."

Taufik Hidayat got his revenge done in a rematch against host Shon Seung-mo 15-10, 15-7.

The Indonesian ace was defeated by Shon on Wednesday in the team final 13-15, 15-13, 16-17 in four hours, including two and half hours of interruption due to refereeing dispute.

"I was careful today as I managed to hold my lead throughout the match," said Taufik. "My loss the other day had not affected my at all and I will make full preparation for the final."

He will take on South Korean Lee Hyun-il, who crashed out Indonesian veteran Hendrawan 15-3, 15-4, for the men's singles gold.

Women's doubles final will see the clash between China's Gao Ling and Huang Sui and the host pair Ra Kyung-min and Lee Kyung-won, who again overcame world number one doubles Yang Wei and Huang Nanyan 11-7, 11-9 in a semifinal.

Chinese head coach Li Yongbo said the loss was within his expectation.

"It was a close match which either pair may win," said Li. "TheSouth Koreans played at their top while Huang and Yang made mistakes at critical moments."

Ra and Lee defeated Yang and Huang in the recent Indonesia Openbefore they lost to another Chinese pair Gao and Huang.

"Psychologically they were a little bit inferior and the atmosphere as well as the loud spectators affected them too," added Li.

South Koreans also had a say in the men's doubles title as first-ranked Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung put Malaysian Chan Chong Ming and Chew Choon Eng out of contention 17-16, 15-12.

Earlier in another semifinal, Thai pair Pramote Teerawiwatana and Tesana Panvisavas stamped out Heryanto Halim and Harjanto Trikus 17-15 15-8.

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