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Shuttlers win Indonesia's second gold
Pride of the nation: Indonesiaâs badminton players, Mohammad Ahsan (left) and Hendra Setiawan, salute their flag after winning the menâs doubles gold medal against South Koreaâs Yeon-seong and Lee Yong-dae at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, on Sunday
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span class="inline inline-center">Pride of the nation: Indonesia's badminton players, Mohammad Ahsan (left) and Hendra Setiawan, salute their flag after winning the men's doubles gold medal against South Korea's Yeon-seong and Lee Yong-dae at the 17th Asian Games in Incheon, South Korea, on Sunday. AP/Kin Cheung
The country's badminton team earned a second gold at the Asian Games after Hendra Setiawan and Mohammad Ahsan won the men's doubles final at Gyeyang Gymnasium in Incheon, South Korea, on Sunday.
Hendra and Ahsan silenced the home crowd by defeating Lee Yong-dae and Yoo Yeon-seong 21-16, 16-21, 21-17. The Indonesian pair had only beaten their opponents once in their previous six meetings.
'Thanks for the support. I dedicate this victory to coach Herry [Iman Pierngadi], who has helped us make this come true,' Ahsan said after the medal ceremony.
'It was not an easy match, but for this Asian Games I've had extra motivation as I may not be at the next games,' said Hendra, who added the gold to the Olympic gold he won with Markis Kido in Beijing in 2008.
It was a pulsating match between the world's top two pairs, with the lead changing hands several times, but Hendra and Ahsan held off their Korean opponents as the match neared its conclusion due to a shift in tactics from their coach.
'They [Hendra and Ahsan] were affected by the breeze,' said Herry, referring to the second game. 'I told them not to make their shots too high and warned them against making unforced errors because this would've placed them under more pressure.'
The Indonesian team could add a third gold via the mixed doubles pairing of Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir, whose semifinal win over Xu Chen and Ma Jin earned them a final matchup against Olympic champions Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei of China.
The Chinese duo prevented an all-Indonesia final after they stopped Praveen Jordan and Debby Susanto in the other semifinal.
China won women's singles gold after Wang Yihan defeated fellow Chinese Li Xuerui 11-21, 21-17, 21-7 and is assured of men's singles gold with Lin Dan and Chen Long to play in the final. 'We hope we can win a third gold to lift Indonesia's standing in the medal tally,' Herry said.
Indonesia moved to 14th with two gold, three silver and seven bronze medals.
China surpassed the century mark with 102 gold medals, while Korea pulled away from Japan with 48 gold medals. Japan was in third place with 44 gold medals.
Indonesia will also hope for medals from Hanam Misari in canoeing, where Indonesia will feature in eight of 12 finals.
In bowling, Novie Phang, Putty Insavilla Armein and Alisha Nabila Larasati finished in fourth place in the women's trio event, while Billy Muhammad Islam, Diwan Rezaldy Syahril and Adhiguna Widiantoro trailed in 15th among 35 participants.
In cycling, Aiman Cahyadi and Hari Fitrianto were almost 10 minutes off the pace as they found themselves in 27th and 29th position, respectively.
Diving and soft tennis will begin on Monday, while taekwondo is set for Tuesday and karate and the modern pentathlon will take place on Wednesday.
