(31 July 1996; Day 12)
With tears of joy, Rexy MAINAKY and Ricky SUBAGJA (INA) embraced their coach, Hadinata CHRISTIAN, in an exuberant celebration which followed their defeat of Malaysia's CHEAH Soon Kit and YAP Kim Hock, 5-15, 15-13, 15-12, in the Olympic badminton men's doubles gold medal match.
"Immediately after winning the match," MAINAKY said, "I was thanking God for the power we had in this match."
In the first game, the future did not seem to hold gold medals for MAINAKY and SUBAGJA. CHEAH and YAP gained the early lead and, after the Indonesians committed a crucial service fault, built it to 11-1. MAINAKY and SUBAGJA inched closer, but were left trailing by at least 8 points from then on.
"It's true that we had to come back from a long distance," SUBAGJA said. "We had to follow the play very closely. We tried continuously. We were left behind several times, and our response was to try harder."
In the second game, MAINAKY and SUBAGJA came on strong, building an initial 5-0 lead into an 8-1 margin, but CHEAH and YAP scored 9 straight points shortly thereafter to take the lead at 11-9. The lead changed hands again before the Malaysian pair tied the game at 12-12. MAINAKY and SUBAGJA smashed in the final points to force a third game.
"Our target was to win the game," MAINAKY said. "Continuously that was what we were thinking."
"In order to accomplish this," SUBAGJA added, "we tried to increase our smashing."
The third game was tight, with seven lead changes. The score was tied at all point values under 13 except at seven and 11. Down 11-12, MAINAKY and SUBAGJA scored four unanswered points to end the game and win the match.
"Our job here was to win this match," SUBAGJA said. "I had thoughts of nothing else."
"I win for Indonesia," MAINAKY added, "not for me."
This is an official publication of the Atlanta Committee for the Olympic Games Sports Publications Department. Written by Deana A.G. Monahan.
Select another day:
Pre | July | 19 | 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | August | 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | Post |
| Pin trading was one of the most popular Olympic sports, with more than 1.2 million pins changing hands during the Games in the Coca Cola Pin Trading Center at Centennial Olympic Park. |