Defending world and Olympic singles champion Taufik Hidayat bolstered Indonesia's hopes in the SEA Games men's team badminton finals on Wednesday.Despite an undisclosed injury that he says will keep him out of the singles competition, Hidayat ground out an opening win against Malaysia's Lee Chong Wei, taking a difficult first game 15-13. Then Hidayat put Indonesia up 1-0 when he won the second game 15-7 to clinch the win 2-0. It looked like gold was all but assured to Indonesia when the top doubles pair of Chandra Yulianto and Luluk Hadiyanto defeated Malaysian duo Chan Ching Ming and Khoo Kien Keat 15-4, 15-9 to leave the Indonesian one match short of victory. Roaring backBut Malaysia roared back to take the next two games and force a fifth and deciding game where Wong Choong Hann proved the better of Simon Santoso. After taking the first game 15-9, Wong scored to take an 8-5 lead in the second game. Wong broke it open from there, finishing off an improbable Malaysian victory with a straight games 15-9, 15-7 win to clinch the gold medal for Malaysia in one of the S.E.A. Games showcase events. There was controversy on the last full day of athletics, where Aung Thi Ha of Myanmar was able to grab gold in the 1500 meters after two Vietnamese runners, Le Van Dong and Nguyen Dinh Cuong, were disqualified for blocking and an illegal pass in the closing metres of the race. Frayed tempersHariyno of Indonesia moved up to take silver while local favorite Rene Herera of the Philippines managed bronze after originally finishing in fifth. There was more controversy in the men's 5,000 metres. Coming down the final 50-metres to the finish, Eduardo Buenavista of the Philippines knocked Thailand's Boonthung Srisung off the pace. After the Thais protested, Buenavista became the second runner of the day to be disqualified for blocking, giving Boonthung Srisung the gold in 14 minutes, 15.09 seconds. Local tempers were somewhat soothed with a silver for Julius Sermona of the Philippines (14:45.44) while Amnuay Tongmit of Thailand took bronze (15:24.05). (AP)
Three athletes disqualified from SEA Games
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