Athens: Taufik Hidayat of Indonesia took the men’s singles gold in Olympic badminton on Saturday, overpowering Shon Seung-mo of South Korea 15-8, 15-7.
Hidayat sank to his knees and covered his face with his hands after winning the final with a strong forehand smash.
Roared on by hundreds of Indonesian supporters whose cheers filled the Goudi Olympic Hall, Hidayat recovered from a 0-6 deficit to sweep Shon aside in the first game.
The second game followed a similar pattern, Hidayat going 0-3 down before putting 12 points on the board without reply.
Indonesia’s Soni Dwi Kuncoro took bronze earlier in the day by defeating Boonsak Ponsana of Thailand 15-11, 17-16.
In women’s tennis, Alicia Molik won the bronze for Australia with a 6-3, 6-4 victory over third-seeded Russian Anastasia Myskina.
Ranked 23rd in the world, Molik had been the underdog against the reigning French Open champion, but took control of the match from the start.
Super-heavyweight Tang Gonghong capped another successful Olympics for China’s women lifters, claiming the country’s third gold with a world record lift.
World champion in 1998, Tang returned to the top of the podium with a 122.5 kg hoist in the snatch then sealed the gold on her final lift, bettering her clean and jerk world record by 7.5 kg for 182.5 kg and a world-record total of 305 kg.
Jang Mi-ran, who pushed Tang to her trembling limit, took the silver with 302.5 kg and Poland’s Agata Wrobel the bronze on 290 kg.
In boxing, Romania’s Marian Simion was outpointed by little-known Egyptian Ramadan Yasser on Saturday in the biggest upset and most controversial decision so far in the Olympic tournament.
Blaming the judges, Simion announced his retirement.The middleweight, a double Olympic medallist and one of the favourites for the gold, seemed to have taken control but Yasser was awarded a 36-24 decision and advanced to the quarter finals.
One of the most experienced boxers in the Athens draw, the 28-year-old won a silver medal in the light-middleweight class at the 2000 Games in Sydney and a bronze in the welterweight division in 1996 in Atlanta.
Australia’s Anna Meares set a world record to win the Olympic women’s 500m cycling time trial on Friday in a race she might well have missed had it not been for an injury to her older sister.
Germany won the Olympic cycling men’s team sprint on Saturday to give veteran rider Jens Fiedler another gold medal to add to his collection.
Iraq's war-weary footballers extended their fairytale Olympic run with a 1-0 victory over Australia on Saturday, giving them a chance to make history. (Reuters)
