NOVA Widianto and Lilyana Natsir are not exactly household names of Indonesian badminton but they achieved a unique feat that will put the pair on par with the legendary Christian Hadinata after winning a second world crown at Putra Stadium yesterday.

Nova-Lilyana became the first pair to win two world crowns in the mixed doubles for Indonesia, while Christian is the other to have clinched a double — in 1980.

Christian had partnered Ade Chandra for the men’s doubles crown and then combined with Imelda Wigueno for the mixed doubles title.

However, Nova-Lilyana will cherish the title more as they had to upstage favourites Zheng Bo-Gao Ling of China 21-16, 21-14 to win the title.

"It was very tough winning our first world title in Anaheim (in 2005) but the pressure was never on us this time. We haven’t won any title this year and it feels great to start with the World Championships," said the 29-year-old Nova.

"The fact that we have Flandy Limpele and Vita (Marissa) playing well has reduced the pressure on us and it is going to give us the opportunity to win more.

"The Beijing Olympics is still far away but we hope to qualify first. With Flandy-Vita joining forces, we are optimistic one of us will win the Olympic gold."

The moment was also very special for Lilyana, who at 21, has two world titles.

However, Lilyana said that there is no pressure on her and this has helped her enjoy the game.

"I’m very happy as our hard work finally paid off. My secret is always to enjoy the game and the confidence is always there to win," said Lilyana.

Indonesia can now go into the Beijing Olympics with more confidence as they can depend on Nova-Lilyana for gold rather relying too much on their singles ace Taufik Hidayat.

Copyright © 2007 NST Online.