ANAHEIM, Calif., 23 August 2005 — Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat eased to a 15-3, 15-7 victory over Chinese top seed Lin Dan in the men’s singles final at the world badminton championships on Sunday. Full of confidence against a surprisingly subdued opponent, Hidayat raced to a 13-0 lead in the first game and was never really threatened as he became the first man to simultaneously hold the Olympic and world crowns.
His performance capped a great week for Indonesia, who also struck gold in the mixed doubles and silver in the men’s doubles.
Hidayat said he was surprised at the number of mistakes his opponent made in the first game, while the Chinese player blamed his performance on the gusty conditions in the air conditioned Arrowhead Pond stadium — home to the NHL’s Mighty Ducks.
There was some consolation for Lin, however, when his girlfriend Xie Xingfang won the women’s singles title with a 11-8, 9-11, 11-3 victory over Olympic champion and top seed Zhang Ning in an all-Chinese final.
Indonesia’s Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir added to the southeast Asian nation’s joy with a 13-15, 15-8, 15-2 victory over Xie Zhongbo and Zhang Yawen of China in the mixed doubles final. In the men’s doubles final, Tony Gunawan and Howard Bach of the United States caused the biggest upset of the tournament with a stirring 15-11, 10-15, 15-11 victory over Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto of Indonesia. In the women’s doubles final on Saturday, top seeds Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen of China defeated compatriots Gao Ling and Huang Sui 17-16, 15-7.
