Malaysian shuttlers stun Indons

Malaysia shocked defending champion Indonesia, 3-2, to snatch the gold and reclaim the team title in a dramatic showdown in badminton finals in the 23rd SEA Games at Philsport arena last year.

The Malaysians last won the gold in 2001 in the Kuala Lumpur Games.

Down 2-0 in the best-of-five finals match, the Malaysians forced a come-from-behind victory to give their country its fourth gold in the men’s team event. First singles bet Lee Chong Wei and first doubles entries World No. 8 pair Chan Chong Ming and Khoo Kien Keat dropped their matches to crowd favorite Taufik Hidayat and the Indonesian tandem of Yulianto Chandra and Luluk Hadiyanto, ranked fourth in the world.

Muhd Hafiz Hashim, who has won three international titles this year, rekindled Malaysia’s hope after an easy win over defending singles champion Sony Dwi Kuncoro, 15-11, 15-4.

The Choong Tan Fook-Wong Choong Hann team then survived Indonesians World No. 9 pair of Kido Markis and Setiawan Hendra, 15-12, 9-15 in the crucial second doubles event.

With a huge Malaysian cheering squad behind him, Wong Choong Hann rallied past Simon Santoso, 15-9, 15-7, to seal Malaysia‚s victory.

In another seesaw tiff, top-seeded Thailand survived the tough match posted against them by second-seeded Singapore, 3-2.

Salakjit Ponsana trounced Mew Choo Wong, the top-ranked female in the SEAG in the first singles encounter. Singapore got back and took the lead after winning two events but the two ensuing doubles bets of Thailand fanned Singapore‚s bid for the title.