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RIO DE JANEIRO, Brazil (UPDATED) – Indonesian shuttlers Tontowi Ahmad and Liliyana Natsir said their badminton mixed doubles Olympic gold at the Rio Games was a “gift” to their country on its independence day Wednesday, August 17.
The pair comfortably defeated Chan Peng Soon and Goh Liu Ying of Malaysia 2-0 to top the podium and claim the first badminton gold medal of the 2016 Olympics.
Ahmad and Natsir took the first game 21-14 before completing the victory with a 21-12 triumph in the second, delighting a noisy contingent of Indonesian fans who chanted their country’s name throughout.
“The supporters were amazing. Today is also Indonesia’s independence day so this is our gift to Indonesia,” a joyous Ahmad told reporters as he played with the gold medal hanging around his neck.
The Indonesian couple had stunned top seeds and defending champions Zhang Nan and Zhao Yunlei of China in the semis and brought their sensational form into the final, dominating from the outset.
Their victory never looked in doubt as they won both games with relative ease due to an array of excellent shot-making and some unenforced errors from the Malaysian couple.
Ahmad, 29, sank to his knees and banged the floor with his hands in celebration before running over to the Indonesian spectators to receive their acclaim.
It was a first Olympic gold medal for both Ahmad and 30-year-old Natsir, who adds to her mixed doubles silver won at the 2008 Beijing Games.
The defeat was further heartache for badminton-mad Malaysia who are yet to win an Olympic gold medal in any sport. Chan and Goh collected silver while China’s Zhang and Zhao take home bronze.
The Chinese double act defeated compatriots Xu Chen and Ma Jin 21-7, 21-11 in the bronze medal match on Tuesday.
Badminton has been Indonesia’s richest source of medals at the Olympics, ahead of weightlifting, but the archipelago failed to win a gold four years ago in London.
Natsir said Wednesday’s triumph made up for that failure.
“I feel relieved, proud and happy. This is payback for London because Indonesia has always won gold medals in badminton but we didn’t then,” she said. – Rappler.com
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