Olympic champion crashes at PON but W. Java through<\/p>\n
Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Palembang<\/p>\n
Olympic gold medalist Taufik Hidayat suffered a 15-11, 17-15
\nshock loss to North Sumatra's Wimpie Mahardi in the first-round
\nteam match of the National Games (PON)'s badminton competition at
\nthe Dempo Badminton Hall here on Wednesday.<\/p>\n
His fellow Olympic medalist Sony Dwi Kuncoro, who won a bronze
\nin Athens, cruised to the second round with a 15-2, 15-10 win
\nover Lampung shuttler Hogianto.<\/p>\n
Taufik, the world No. 4, who won Indonesia's only gold medal
\nin Athens, could not put up much of a fight to hold off the
\ndetermined world No. 137, who ruled the game from the start.<\/p>\n
Taufik, representing West Java, was down to 3-12 before he
\nmanaged to reduce the gape to 9-13. But Wimpie regrouped to
\nquickly close the first game 15-11.<\/p>\n
The second game was much tougher as Taufik tried to up his
\nplay. Both players went head-to-head right to the end, with
\nWimpie emerging the winner.<\/p>\n
Taufik blamed his fitness for the defeat.<\/p>\n
\"I lost the game because I did not have enough time to rest
\nfor this game due a very tight schedule I had after I arrived in
\nIndonesia from Athens,\" Taufik said after the game.<\/p>\n
\"I didn't have time to practice at all\", he added.<\/p>\n
He quickly brushed aside the loss, saying that wins and losses
\nwere the nature of the game.<\/p>\n
Taufik said he had not forced himself to the limit during the
\ngame, for fear of getting injured.<\/p>\n
Wimpie, meanwhile, was unenthusiastic about the win, saying
\nthat Taufik had not given his best against him.<\/p>\n
\"Taufik was really tired after he got home from Athens. He
\ncould hardly find time to rest, so that's why he was defeated
\ntoday,\" Wimpie told The Jakarta Post with a grin.<\/p>\n
After his triumph in Athens, Taufik made a series of victory
\nlaps in Jakarta and Bandung, West Java. Upon his arrival in
\nPalembang, he took part in a similar ceremony.<\/p>\n
Although Taufik was defeated in the first opening match, his
\nteammate bronze medalist Flandy Limpele teamed up with Hendra
\nGunawan, to crush North Sumatra's pair of Fauzi Ikhsan and
\nAswiadi F, 15-4, 15-4.<\/p>\n
West Java took the other three matches to win the 4-1. The
\nother teams in Group A are Central Java, North Sulawesi and
\nCentral Kalimantan.<\/p>\n
Representing East Java, Sony beat Hogianto 15-2, 15-10.<\/p>\n
\"I didn't have much time to practice either since I got back
\nfrom Athens but I went home to Surabaya and practiced hard
\nfor three days before this game and I won the game. I hope the
\nEast Java province is able to at least grab a single medal since
\nit has never won a medal in a badminton group event before,\" Sony
\ntold the Post.<\/p>\n
Meanwhile, Alvent Yulianto and Tri Kusharjanto overcame
\nLampung Sarno and Ronaldo 15-3, 15-3, while the Sydney 2000
\nOlympic Games silver medalist Hendrawan contributed a point with
\na 15-7, 15-3 win over Sarno as East Java cruised to 4-1 win.<\/p>\n
Central Java, which like West Java and East Java features many
\nnational players, won 5-0 over North Sulawesi.<\/p>\n
Eng Hian and Luluk Hadiyanto won 15-5, 15-6 over North
\nSulawesi's pair Ronie Runtunalo and Melky. Sigit Budiarto and
\nRian Sukmawan defeated Jefry and Andrian 15-4, 15-3.<\/p>\n
In Group B, 18-year-old Simon Santoso led Jakarta to a win
\nover South Sumatra. The other team in the group is Banten.<\/p>\n
In the women's division, Jakarta, spearheaded by Silvi
\nAntarini and Firdasari, ground to a 3-0 win over Yogyakarta.<\/p>",
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