ASIAN GAMES MD Final – Ahsan and Setiawan make it two for Indonesia

Another dream come true for the Indonesian Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, stealing the gold from the home favourites Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Seong in a sixty-three-minute thriller of a match.  It was some welcome good news for Indonesia as it is currently shaken by huge political issues.

By Tarek Hafi, Badzine Correspondent live in Incheon.  Photos: Don Hearn (live)

A suddenly near-capacity crowd (pictured bottom) came to Gyeyang Gymnasium to acclaim the nation’s pride Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Seong, a match that had been advertised the whole day on Korean television.

However, despite a better start from the Koreans, Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan quickly reduced the gap and took the lead with very tactical play, preventing any attacks from Yoo Yeon Seong and Lee Yong Dae. With the net seized as well by the Indonesians, Mohammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan went on to clinch the opening game 21-16.

The tension climbing a step higher in the second, both pairs remained very close, with this time Lee Yong Dae and Yoo Yeon Seong (pictured right) taking a slight 11-9 lead at the mid-game interval.  The game continued with this momentum but the Indonesians provided excellent answers at the drive challenges imposed by the Koreans.

Back level at 15-all, Lee and Yoo began a series of attacks that proved to be efficient and they grabbed the second game 21-16, after Hendra Setiawan pushed a shuttle out.

Throughout the deciding game, the crowd vociferously supported their team, reaching the decibels of the men’s team event final.  Appropriately, the two teams didn’t fail to repeat the pattern of both preceding games and remain stuck in the score, exchanging the serve at every rally.

The Koreans managed a lead at the mid-interval that was quickly nullified by Ahsan and Setiawan (pictured left), but the Koreans didn’t step back mentally, replying with great kills at the net.  At 17-all, the momentum swung for the last time and the Indonesians accelerated the pace to seal it 21-17.

“We are of course overjoyed right now and we wish to dedicate this win to our coach, who helped us during our long period of preparation,” commented Hendra Setiawan after the match.

Fair play obliged Yoo Yeon Seong and Lee Yong Dae to not fail to congratulate their opponents of the day and in fact, their usual rivals: “Ahsan and Setiawan are our rivals on court but friends off-court so I sincerely wish to congratulate them for their win,” said Yoo Yeon Seong in the post-match conference.

Setiawan and his former partner Markis Kido had blocked Lee Yong Dae from the final at the last Asian Games, as well as beating him in the 2007 World Championship final.  In fact, Hendra’s only previous victory in Korea was in Suwon five years ago, when they defeated Yoo Yeon Seong in the Asian Championship final just a few months after he’d signed with the pro badminton team in that city.  These partnerships had met in two previous finals this year, though, one of them being in the Indonesians’ home Superseries Premier event.

Despite the loss at home, both Koreans remained very positive about today’s outcome: “It’s of course disappointing to lose at home – we prepared very well for this event – but this is not the end.  There are still many tournaments ahead of us and in two years in the Olympic Games, so we will make sure to do our best and get a gold medal in these events,” concluded superstar Lee Yong Dae before rushing to the doping test.

Click here for complete Day 9 results