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Ahsan, Hendra make world title a 70th anniversary gift
Anniversary gift: Indonesia's Mohammad Ahsan, left, and Hendra Setiawan pose with their gold medals during an award ceremony after defeating China's Liu Xiaolong and Qiu Zihan in their men's doubles final match at the Badminton World Federation championships at Istora Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sunday
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Anniversary gift: Indonesia's Mohammad Ahsan, left, and Hendra Setiawan pose with their gold medals during an award ceremony after defeating China's Liu Xiaolong and Qiu Zihan in their men's doubles final match at the Badminton World Federation championships at Istora Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sunday. (AP/Tatan Syuflana) (AP/Tatan Syuflana)
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span class="inline inline-center">Anniversary gift: Indonesia's Mohammad Ahsan, left, and Hendra Setiawan pose with their gold medals during an award ceremony after defeating China's Liu Xiaolong and Qiu Zihan in their men's doubles final match at the Badminton World Federation championships at Istora Stadium in Jakarta, Indonesia, Sunday. (AP/Tatan Syuflana)
Indonesian doubles pair, Muhammad Ahsan and Hendra Setiawan, won their second world badminton title at the Istora Senayan indoor stadium on Sunday, delivering Indonesia an early gift for its 70th anniversary on Monday.
Ahsan/Hendra, the winners of the men's doubles world title in Guangzhou, China, two years ago, seemed to have no difficulty in crushing their Chinese opponents, Liu Xiaolong and Qiu Zihan, in straight sets 21-17, 21-14 in front of a home crowd cheering loudly for their team.
'Even though we took an early lead, we did not let it affect our play,' said Ahsan after the match.
'We thank God and the Indonesian people. This title is not only for us but for all Indonesians,' he added.
'We're proud to be able to present this gift [to Indonesia],' said Hendra.
Sunday's victory was a triumphant comeback for the pair who had to skip last year's championships in Copenhagen, Denmark, due to injury affecting Ahsan.
Their coach Herry Imam Pierngadi was all smiles as he talked to journalists, saying that he had told them earlier that he wanted them to present the world title for his birthday on Aug. 21.
He added, 'This [title] will also be a birthday gift for Hendra who will celebrate his birthday on Aug. 25.'
After the tournament, Herry told reporters that he had prepared a list of tournaments for his protégés to participate in, including tournaments in Japan, Korea, China, Hong Kong, Denmark and the Super Series final in Dubai where they could qualify for the 2016 Olympics in Brazil.(++++)
