UNIVERSIADE 2011 – Indonesia beats China to claim team Gold

Indonesia beat China in the final of the Universiade Mixed Team Badminton event in the gymnasium of the Shenzhen Institute of Information Technology on Thursday. Thailand and Chinese Taipei got bronze in spite of the presence of London silver medallist Cheng Shao Chieh.

By Raphael Sachetat. Photos: Badmintonphoto

The Indonesians may not have shone much on the international stage recently, but the Indonesian students proved they were the best in the world, on Thursday, putting host China to shame in the final of the mixed event with a 3-1 win.

Bellaetrix Manuputty, who beat Shi Xiaoqian  21-19, 19-21, 23-21, was the star of the day because of her outstanding performance on court. But also because she had permitted her team to beat Taipei in the semi-final, by edging the recent World Championship silver medallist Cheng Shao Chieh (photo), who flew straight from London to participate in the biggest university event.

Manuputty had beaten the tiny Taipei veteran after an extraordinary performance which she won in straight games. At 7-7 in the second game, a fragment from the shuttle got stuck in Manuputty’s eye. After some treatment by the on court doctor, she came back on court to claim her win, 24-22, 21-19.

“I was exhausted but I told myself if I was going to die, then I would just die on court. I am so tired, I feel like I’ve been beaten up by 10 people,” she told local press after her final win. Her team-mates Rian Agung Saputra / Angga Pratama (photo) kept the flag flying when they took out Lee Sheng Mu / Fang Chieh Min  21-18, 21-15 and were the ones turning the tables around before Manuputty closed the tie for Indonesia.

In the final, after China had beaten Thailand  3-0, all odds were against the Indonesians, who were taking on the powerhouse which had just made a clean sweep in the Yonex BWF World Championships.

Kai Wen, the main favourite to take gold in the individual event, put China back in the tie after the mixed doubles pair of Li/Chen had lost to Indonesia’s Widianto/Irawati, but after Manuputty’s performance , it was again Pratama and Saputra who gave the final edge to Indonesia.

Final Standing
1. Indonesia (Gold)
2. China (Silver)
3. Taipei, Thailand (Bronze)
5. Korea
6. Japan
7. Great Britain
8. Malaysia
9. Germany
10. Russia
11.Spain
12. France
13. India
14. Macao
15. Hong Kong
16. Syria

All results HERE