Reigning champion Lee upsets Taufik in Malaysian Open<\/p>\n
Agence France-Presse
\nKuala Lumpur<\/p>\n
Defending champion Lee Chong Wei was the toast of the home
\ncrowd when he upset Olympic gold medalist Taufik Hidayat in the
\nquarterfinals of the Malaysian Open badminton tournament on
\nFriday.<\/p>\n
For handing the Indonesian ace a 15-5, 15-0 drubbing, Lee
\nbecame the only Malaysian player to reach the last four in the
\nmen's singles semifinals on Saturday after another local favorite
\nHafiz Hashim was overwhelmed by world number three Peter Gade in
\na pulsating encounter.<\/p>\n
There was better news for Indonesia in the men's doubles,
\nwhere top seeded Luluk Hadiyanto\/Alven Yulianto beat Chan Chong
\nMing\/Koo Kien Keat of Malaysia 17-16, 15-7, and veterans
\nCandra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto defeated Yoo Yeon-seong\/Jeon
\nJun-bum of Korea 15-4, 15-11.<\/p>\n
Luluk and Alven were to play fourth seeded Fu Haifeng and Cai
\nYun of China, with Candra and Sigit playing the unseeded Chinese
\npair Sang Yang and Xie Zhongbo.<\/p>\n
Lee believed his attacking game rattled Taufik, who was
\nearlier tipped by many to advance based on his victory in the
\nSingapore Open last week.<\/p>\n
\"My strategy of adopting a fast attacking game paid dividends.
\nHowever I suspect Hidayat was in pain. Maybe he had some problems
\nwith his right leg,\" said Lee.<\/p>\n
Taufik, who suffered a knee injury earlier this year that kept
\nhim out of the All England, preferred to give Lee the credit.<\/p>\n
\"Lee was the better player tonight,\" he said.<\/p>\n
Gade, who had beaten three Malaysians prior to Friday's last
\neight, was made to work by Hafiz in what was clearly the
\nhighlight of the night before finally carving his maiden victory
\nover the Malaysian in three encounters. Gade won 15-10, 12-15,
\n15-5.<\/p>\n
In the semifinals, Gade will take on China's world number one
\nLin Dan who was given a walkover by his injured compatriot Chen
\nHong. Fifth seeded seed Chunlai completes the line-up after
\nbeating Chen Jin 15-8, 15-7.<\/p>\n
Sixth seed Hafiz was upset with the defeat but conceded Gade
\nwas simply the better shuttler.<\/p>\n
\"My target was to take the first game and wrap it up in the
\nsecond. Just as I feared, I could not seize the initiative in the
\nthird game,\" said the 22-year old former All-England winner.<\/p>\n
Gade was delighted after claiming his fourth Malaysian victim
\nafter wins over Lee Tsuen Seng, Roslin Hashim and Wong Choong
\nHann in the earlier rounds.<\/p>\n
\"Hafiz posed some problems but I succeeded in luring him into
\nmy game. The trick was to deny Hafiz the time and opportunity to
\nattack and smash,\" said the Dane.<\/p>",
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