Hidayat wins men's
singles badminton

Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat won the Asian Games men's badminton gold even as more player protests scarred the concluding day of the tournament in Busan on Monday.

Hidayat gave another glimpse of his temperamental nature in the final against South Korean Lee Hyun Il, which he won 15-7, 15-9, but only after disputing a line call that held up play for five minutes.

Later in the women's doubles final, the Chinese pair of Gao Ling and Huang Sui too protested and their match against South Koreans Ra Kyung-Min and Lee Kyung-Won was stopped for 10 minutes in the second game.

Hidayat had staged a two-hour walk-out during the team championship final against South Korea citing biased calls by South Korean linesmen.

The 22-year-old Indonesian had lost his match of that tie to Shon Seuong-Mo but extracted revenge in the men's semi-finals.

That match went off smoothly but Hidayat held up the final when he was 9-8 up in the second game.

Chief referee Boon Kong Ee of Singapore intervened to control the situation and said the call was good. Hidayat though insisted it was a bad one.

"You feel bad when you get such decisions but I'm getting used to it," said Hidayat. "There was great pressure on me but I guess so was it on Lee.

"I thought he didn't play a good game today," he said about left-handed Lee, who is currently ranked 13th in the world, one place above Hidayat.

Hidayat attacked from early on to wrest the initiative in the first game, going from 3-5 down to 14-5 up before wrapping it up. In the second, the scores went neck-and-neck till 9-9 after which Hidayat pulled away.

"It's wonderful winning the gold but it would have been better had we won the team gold too," said Hidayat.

"I was aiming for two gold medals. It feels bad to be a member of one of two teams that have lost to South Korea in an Asian Games final."

Hidayat could not hide his jubilation at sealing victory over Lee with a delightful flick that caught his opponent out of position.

The Indonesian clenched his fists and roared his delight in the direction of line judges before waving to Indonesian fans in the stands.

There were similar scenes of joy later in the day as the third-seeded Korean pair of Ra Kyung-Min and Lee Kyung-Won prevailed over second seeds Gao Ling and Huang Sui 11-8, 11-7 in a tense match.

The Chinese pair refused to carry on when the score was 3-3 in the second game after they had lost the first.

They insisted the umpire have a look at a replay on the big television screen before awarding the Koreans their fourth point of the game.

Once again, officials of the Asian Badminton Confederation had to come in to ensure resumption of the match.