Jonatan Christie delivered a second gold medal to Indonesia in the Asian Games badminton event after securing a hard-fought victory over Chou Tien Chen from Chinese Taipei in the men’s singles final at a packed Istora Senayan this afternoon. The hosts were already assured the gold in the men’s doubles after both their pairs qualified for the final.
Although playing against their teammates, Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo had to dig really deep into their reserves to overcome an awesome performance from Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto. Marcus-Kevin, the world No.1 pair, narrowly edged their compatriots 13-21, 21-18, 24-22 in highly entertaining final.
Completing today’s final line-up, was the women’s singles which was claimed by world No.1 Tai Tzu Ying. The Chinese Taipei star was on fire as she charged past India’s Pusarla V Sindhu 21-13, 21-16 and bag her country’s first-ever Asian Games gold medal.
The 21-year-old Jonatan’s remarkable 21-18, 20-22, 21-15 victory, after more than an hour-long battle, also ended Indonesia’s 12-year wait for the men’s singles gold medal last won by Taufik Hidayat at the 2006 Doha Games. Taufik also won the gold in 2002.
“I want to thank everyone in the team for contributing to our team’s success. I want to especially thank my mum and my family for their support. This is a great victory but we have to also continue to work hard and prepare for the coming competitions,” said Jonatan, who had stunned several top players including topseed Shi Yuqi and eight seeded Kenta Nishimoto..
In today’s match, Jonatan, who has a 4-0 head-to-head record against the sixth world ranked Chou, had a smashing start but slipped up in the second, trailing 16-2- before going down 20-22. Jonatan, ranked 15th in the world, surged to a 13-7 lead and extended it to 17-10. Chou tried but it was over as Jonatan was on a roll and would go on to end the final at 21-15.
In the second final this evening, Tai, who holds a 9-3 record including winning the last five encounters against Sindhu, was in her element today and sped on to snatch the first game 21-13. She was sharp, took charge today which made it tough for Sindhu to match her. Tai continued to push her rival and walked away with a comfortable 21-16 win.
For Tai, her golden run today was a major improvement from her bronze medal result at the Incheon Games four years ago. Sindhu later commented that Tai was expected to do well as she is currently the best highest ranked player. “She got away but I came back but she played well, she is the world number one.”
The men’s doubles showdown was indeed a fitting finale today to a tremendous badminton programme at this edition of the Asian Games. Marcus-Kevin were expected to easily breeze past their unseeded rivals and claim the gold today Instead, they were giving a roasting and almost lost the final. After being stunned 13-21 in the opener, Marcus-Kevin came back strongly to win 21-18.
Although Marcus-Kevin snapped to a 5-1 lead and later was comfortably leading 18-14 when Fajar-Rian launched an aggressive assault to level off at 19-19. It was a point-for-point battle, but in the end, the experienced duo prevailed 24-22.
“We gave it our best but today, they (Fajar-Rian) gave an extraordinary performance which really troubled us. They played beyond our expectations and minimised their mistakes. We managed to come back and we are happy to have won today,” Kevin said.
Meanwhile, China were tops when they won a total of three out of the seven gold medals contested here. Indonesia took up two golds while Japan and Chinese Taipei had one each.
FINAL RESULTS
Men’s Singles
Jonatan Christie (Ina) bt 4-Chou Tien Chen (Tai) 21-18, 20-22, 21-15
Men’s Doubles
1-Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Ina) bt Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto (Ina) 13-21, 21-18, 24-22
Women’s Singles
1-Tai Tzu Ying (Tai) bt 3-P.V. Sindhu (Ind) 21-13, 21-16
ASIAN GAMES 2018 BADMINTON ROLL OF HONOUR
Men’s Singles
Gold: Jonatan Christie (Ina)
Silver: Chou Tien Chen (Tai)
Bronze: Kenta Nishimoto (Jpn), Anthony Sinisuka Ginting (Ina)
Men’s Doubles
Gold: Marcus Fernaldi Gideon-Kevin Sanjaya Sukamuljo (Ina)
Silver: Fajar Alfian-Muhammad Rian Ardianto (Ina)
Bronze: Lee Jhe Huei-Lee Yang (Tai), Li Junhui-Liu Yuchen (Chn)
Women’s Singles
Gold: Tai Tzu Ying (Tai)
Silver: Pusarla V Sindhu
Bronze: Saina Nehwal (Ind), Akane Yamaguchi (Jpn)
Women’s Doubles
Gold: Chen Qingchen-Jia Yifan (Chn)
Silver: Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi (Jpn)
Bronze: Yuki Fukushima-Sayaka Hirota (Jpn), Greysia Polii-Apriyani Rahayu (Ina)
Mixed Doubles
Gold: Zheng Siwei-Huang Yaqiong (Chn)
Silver: Tang Chun Man-Tse Ying Suet (Hkg)
Bronze: Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir (Ina), Wang Wilyu-Huang Dongping (Chn)
Men’s Team
Gold: China
Silver: Indonesia
Bronze: Japan, Chinese Taipei
Women’s Team
Gold: Japan
Silver: China
Bronze: Indonesia, Thailand
Note: For results, please go to https://www.tournamentsoftware.com/sport/matches.aspx?id=4B641789-C7DC-440D-99A2-4BC6D8B537EC&d=20180828
Individual Medallists Asian Games 2014
Men’s singles
Gold: Lin Dan (China)
Silver: Chen Long (China)
Bronze: Lee Chong Wei (Malaysia), Wei Nan (Hong Kong China)
Men’s doubles
Gold: Mohammad Ahsan-Hendra Setiawan (Indonesia)
Silver: Lee Yong-dae-Yoo Yeon-seong (Korea)
Bronze: Goh V Shem-Tan Wee Kiong (Malaysia), Kim Gi-jung-Kim Sa-rang (Korea)
Women’s singles
Gold: Wang Yihan (China)
Silver: Li Xuerui (China)
Bronze: Tai Tzu Ying (Chinese Taipei), Bae Yeon-ju (Korea)
Women’s doubles
Gold: Nitya Krishinda Maheswari-Greysia Polii (Indonesia)
Silver: Misaki Matsutomo-Ayaka Takahashi (Japan)
Bronze: Vivian Hoo-Woon Khe Wei (Malaysia), Tian Qing-Zhao Yunlei (China)
Mixed doubles
Gold: Zhang Nan-Zhao Yunlei (China)
Silver: Tontowi Ahmad-Liliyana Natsir (Indonesia)
Bronze: Praveen Jordan-Debby Susanto (Indonesia), Xu Chen-Ma Jin (China)
Men’s Team Event
Gold: Korea
Silver: China
Bronze: Malaysia, Chinese Taipei
Women’s Team Event
Gold: China
Silver: Korea
Bronze: Japan, India
