The Asian Games came to an end today in Jakarta, Indonesia, with the individual event. There was much to cheer about for the Indonesian fans throughout the week, and especially on finals day, where they picked up both their first and second Badminton gold medals of the games.
The day started with the Men’s Singles final between home favourite Jonatan Christie and Taiwan’s Chou Tien Chen. The 20-year-old, who beat World Championship silver medallist Shi Yuqi in the first round, had a terrific week and seemed to be riding the wave of crowd support. There was no stopping him in the final, which turned into a terrific battle lasting nearly 1 hour 15 minutes. Christie wanted it more in the end and won the final 21-18, 20-22, 21-15.
In the Women’s Singles, another Taiwanese star was in the final. Tai Tzu Ying perhaps presented the biggest shock of the World Championships in Nanjing, when she failed to medal, despite being the strong favourite for Gold. In the Asian Games however, she didn’t put a foot wrong and cruised to Gold, beating India’s P.V. Sindhu 21-13, 21-16 in the final.
The last match today was the cherry on top for all Indonesian Badminton fans. The Men’s Doubles final, featuring two Indonesian pairs. Kevin Sukamuljo and Marcus Gideon faced Fajar Alfian and Muhammad Rian Ardianto and put on a great show for the fans. The match went to 3 entertaining games and ended 13-21, 21-18, 22-20 in favour of Sukamuljo and Gideon.
The medals
China stand top of the Badminton medals table with 3 gold, 1 silver and 2 bronze. However, Indonesia, who is second in the table, won the most Badminton medals of any country with 8, ahead of China and Japan who both have 6.
The final medals from the individual events:
Men’s Singles
Gold – Jonatan Christie (INA)
Silver – Chou Tien Chen (TPE)
Bronze – Anthony Ginting (INA) & Kenta Nishimoto (JPN)
Women’s Singles
Gold – Tai Tzu Ying (TPE)
Silver – P. V. Sindhu (IND)
Bronze – Saina Nehwal (IND) & Akane Yamaguchi (JPN)
Men’s Doubles
Gold – Kevin Sukamuljo/ Marcus Gideon (INA)
Silver – Fajar Alfian/ Muhammad Rian Ardianto (INA)
Bronze – Lee Jhe-huei/ Lee Yang (TPE) & Li Junhui/ Liu Yuchen (CHN)
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 (HK)
Bronze – Tontowi Ahmad/ Lilyana Natsir (INA) & Wang Yilyu/ Huang Dongping (CHN)
For all the results, click
here.