Zakki Hakim, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Sony Dwi Kuncoro of Indonesia defended his Asian championship title but the home side must have rued its missed chances for more titles in Sunday's finals.

Sony's 15-5, 7-15, 15-8 win over Taufik Hidayat in the US$150,000 JVC Asian Badminton Championships final at the Bung Karno Sports Complex gave him back-to-back titles after winning in Bangkok last year, also at the expense of Taufik.

Indonesia collected another title in the mixed doubles through Nova Widianto/Vita Marissa, who defeated compatriot pair Anggun Nugroho/Eny Widianto 11-2, 11-5.

But the home players crumbled in their matches against foreign opposition.

Markis Kido/Hendra Setiawan failed to build on their upset semifinal wins as the young Indonesian pair were dominated by the experienced, 2002 Asian Games champions Lee Dong-soo/Yoo Yong-sung, and finally went down 15-10, 15-11.

After managing to get to the finals, Silvi Antarini eventually fell at the last hurdle. The young 19-year-old, who is widely tipped as an Indonesian star of the future, found out that she would need to work harder in the future.

Silvi, who is a victim of the recent eviction drive launched by the Jakarta administration, was a weak reflection of the world's number four and top tournament seed Wang Chen of Hong Kong, with the Indonesian being defeated 11-6, 11-5.

The Korean team, which did not field its best line-up, will still go home with two titles. The other was in the women's doubles courtesy of Ra Kyung-min/Lee Kyung-won, who beat teammates Lee Hyo-jung/Hwang Yu-mi 15-9, 15-7.

The center of attention was undoubtedly the men's singles battle, in which Sony, 19, and Taufik, 22, took turns in evening theng two sets 1-1 and forcing the third.

Unlike in theng sets where they beat each other in relatively easy workouts, the third set ran tight with the points being hard fought.

Taufik, who was fresh from his Indonesiatitle defense last month, displayed unsportsmanlike behavior as the match was neared the end.

Trailing 8-14, Taufik deliberately brought the game to an immediate end by hitting Sony's short serve into the net to hand Sony the victory.

Taufik, who has yet to find a coach after the abrupt departure of Joko Suprianto, snubbed the media by failing to turn up at the scheduled media conference.

After the match, Sony said he was happy to win his first title this year.

Sunday's victory also means that eighth-ranked Sony is still ahead of 14th-ranked Taufik as the former has won all of their four meetings.

However, Sony humbly admitted that his skills were still inferior to Taufik's, and that he won mostly because he was just being persistent as instructed by his coach Joko Suprianto.

After the matches and the prize presentation ceremonies, a special ceremony was held to honor Indonesian Badminton hero Hendrawan, who is resigning from badminton.

Hendrawan, who has been forced to quit by injuries, was the 2001 world champion. He was also a silver medalist at the 1998 Asian Games and 2000 Sydney Olympic Games.

He helped Indonesia win three of its last five Thomas Cup -- the world's men's team competition -- victories.

The 31-year-old Hendrawan has been nominated as a badminton envoy, with the task of promoting badminton around the world.