Boy wonder Taufic struck by self doubt<\/p>\n
SYDNEY (Reuters): Indonesian boy wonder Taufik Hidayat
\novercame an attack of self doubt on Tuesday to hold off
\nunseeded Malaysian Ong Ewe Hock and move into the quarterfinals
\nof the men's badminton singles at the Olympics.<\/p>\n
The Chinese had no problems with confidence, with their top
\nmen and women stars all cruising through.<\/p>\n
But in a sport dominated by Asians, the Danish \"golden couple\"
\n-- Peter Gade and Camilla Martin, who are engaged to be married
\n-- were on track for a dream finish to their Olympic singles
\ncampaigns.<\/p>\n
Both insisted however that they were too focused on their own
\ngames to think about a double medal.<\/p>\n
Top-seeded Taufik stumbled badly in the second game of his
\nmatch, just as he did in the earlier round against Japan's
\nHidetaka Yamada.<\/p>\n
As Ong charged the net, throwing Taufic off balance, the 19-
\nyear-old who is carrying the hopes of a badminton-mad nation,
\nsaid doubts started creeping in.<\/p>\n
He finally pulled himself together, galvanized by raucous
\nIndonesians in the crowd drumming their feet and banging their
\nchairs, and won 15-9, 13-15, 15-3.<\/p>\n
\"I got rid of all my doubts,\" he said. \"I had to prove to
\nmyself and to the world I was the number one seed.\"<\/p>\n
The only member of the Chinese camp who showed any
\nhesitation was coach Li Youngbo.<\/p>\n
\"I'm basically happy, but not completely. There are still
\nareas in which we can do better,\" Li said.<\/p>\n
But if the Chinese had weaknesses, their opponents did not
\nmanage to spot them.<\/p>\n
In the women's doubles, top-seeded Gu Jun and Ge Fei
\ndemolished their South Korean opponents Yim Kyung-jin and Lee
\nHyo-jung 15-3, 15-5 to move into the quarterfinals.<\/p>\n
Gao Ling and Qin Yiyuan, seeded sixth, got the job done just
\nas easily, sweeping aside Haruko Matsuda and Yoshiko Iwata from
\nJapan 15-5, 15-5.<\/p>\n
But the most one-sided contest came when second-seeded Huang
\nNanyan and Yang Wei took apart the Thai pair Sujitra
\nEakmongkolpaisarn and Saralee Toongthongkam 15-1, 15-4.<\/p>\n
In the women's singles, top seed Gong Zhichao rolled over
\nJapan's Yasuko Mizui 11-6, 11-3 to move into the last four.<\/p>\n
One of the biggest shocks of the day came when Martin
\ndemolished Mia Audina Tjiptawan of the Netherlands 11-2, 11-1,
\nalso to reach the semifinals.<\/p>\n
The two are usually quite evenly matched, but Audina
\nTjiptawan, who has recently had a personal upheaval by marrying
\nand moving from her native Indonesia to the Netherlands, seemed
\nto have other things on her mind.<\/p>\n
\"She wasn't herself today,\" said Martin.<\/p>\n
\"She's a very strong player but she was very nervous today.\"<\/p>\n
Earlier, fiancee Gade blasted Taiwan's Fung Permadi 15-8, 15-
\n7, surprising because the two have played a number of close
\nmatches.<\/p>\n
\"He's concentrating on his game and I'm concentrating on
\nmine,\" said Martin in answer to a question over whether the two
\nlovers were aiming for twin gold.<\/p>\n
\"Maybe we can get some medals -- I hope so.\"<\/p>\n
Britain's last hope in the men's singles, Richard Vaughan, was
\nbundled out by China's Sun Jun 15-10, 15-8.<\/p>\n
But in the women's doubles, Joanne Goode and Donna Kellogg,
\nseeded fourth, added to Britain's badminton success story in
\nSydney by overcoming the Canadian pair Milaine Cloutier and
\nRobbyn Hermitage 15-4, 15-10 to reach the last eight.<\/p>",
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"sponsor": "Okusi Associates",
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