YONEX Australian Open 2009 - Huang-Tang smash their way to title

Huang and Tang’s experience shone throughout the match. They rose to any challenge from Balan and Kurian with some great defence, turning seemingly unachievable points into thrilling victories to the delight of the home fans who packed into the Melbourne Sport and Aquatic Centre.

Earlier, New Zealand missed out on their first tournament win with Henry Tam-Donna going down in two games to the No 1 seeds Yohan Wiratama and Chau Hoi Wah from Hong Kong.

The New Zealand pair never got into the match and made far too many unforced errors from the start. Speed and dominance from the back of the court gave Wiratama and Chau the advantage who downed Haliday and Tam in 17 minutes.

The men’s singles final was an all-Indonesia affair between unseeded Dionysius Rumbaka and Yunus Alamsyah. Both players were evenly matched with each player striving to gain an early advantage and it was Rumbaka who edged ahead in the first game with some great winning overheads.

The momentum swung back and forth in both games with each player mixing up play, combining delicate touches at the net with speed and strength from all corners of the court. Rumbaka’s power overhead gave him the winning edge and saw him take out the match in two closely contested games.

The top two seeds met in the final of the women’s singles but the match was not as closely contested as the seeding suggests. Top seed Yip Pui Yin from Hong Kong struggled to find form throughout the match and made too many unforced errors.

Her movement across court was not as sharp as earlier rounds and her opponent looked fresh in comparison. Maria Febe Kusumastuti, on the other hand, was more consistent and made fewer errors, moving her at times jaded opponent around the court with apparent ease.

Kusumastuti took the first game and despite Yip saving two match points in the second, went on to win the match.

The men’s doubles was a fast moving match between the No 1 seeds Rupesh Kumar-Thomas Sanave from India and the No 2 seeds Gan Teik Chai-Tan Bin Shen of Malaysia.

However, it was the power of the Malaysian pair, combined with great reflexes that gave them the advantage. Kumar-Thomas ran out of answers to Gan-Tan’s smart attacking play which saw them win the match in two easy games.