Recovering Taufik to meet Wong in Singapore final
Recovering Taufik to meet Wong in Singapore final
JAKARTA (JP): Taufik Hidayat who is still recovering from his
injuries made an outstanding performance by advancing to the
final of the US$120,000 Sunrise-Yonex Singapore Open to meet
Malaysian Wong Choong Han in Sunday's final.
Also cruising to the final were Indonesia's men's doubles
pairs of world champions Tony Gunawan and Halim Haryanto, and
Indonesian Open winners Candra Wijaya and Sigit Budiarto, thus
securing the title for Indonesia once again.
Seeded third in the event, Taufik cleared his way by crushing
unseeded Malaysian Muhammad Hafiz bin Hasim 8-7, 7-2, 7-3 in
Saturday's semifinals match.
"Hafiz is good but inexperienced. His defense is still not
very good. I came into this tournament without a target and I am
really happy to have reached the final," said Taufik as quoted by
AFP.
The world's number five, Taufik, was injured in the World
Badminton Championships semifinals match against eventual world
champion compatriot Hendrawan in June in Seville, Spain. The
Singapore Open is his first performance after his recovery.
Meanwhile in the other semifinals match, Wong easily crashed
Indonesia's hope for another title by sending Johan Hadikusuma
out with an easy 7-1, 7-2, 7-1 victory in a match that lasted
only 24 minutes.
The ninth seeded Wong was too quick and accurate for Johan and
also because the later never let up the pressure.
"I felt Johan was nervous and I took full advantage of his
mistakes," Wong said. "I played at a faster pace so I could keep
control of the game right from the start."
He was more circumspect about Sunday's final.
"Taufik is playing pretty well even if he says he is only 80
percent fit. Based on his past performance, he will definitely be
the favorite."
Indonesia's hope of retaining its domination in the men's
doubles first emerged when Tony and Halim defeated Pramote
Teerawiwatana and Tesana Panvisvas of Thailand 8-6, 7-5, 7-0.
In the lower leg, Candra and Sigit cleared the way for an all-
Indonesian final after defeating Malaysians Chew Choon Eng and
Chan Chong Ming 8-7, 7-2, 7-3.
Chinese women's shuttlers again showed their domination in
both the singles and doubles events by staging two all-Chinese
final matches to bring the titles home.
Zhang Ning defeated Ng Mee Fen of Malaysia 7-0, 8-7, 7-3 to
set her match with compatriot Dai Yun who upset second seed Gong
Zhichao, also from China, 7-3, 7-0, 7-5 to contest the women's
singles title.
In the mixed doubles, top seeds Wei Yili and Zhang Jiewen
cleared the Indonesian pair of second-stringers Eny Erlangga and
Novita 7-3, 8-6, 7-3.
Another Chinese pair of Zhang Yawen and Zhao Tingting were
forced to work hard to upset second seeds Helene Kirkegard and
Rikke Olsen of Denmark 5-7, 8-6, 7-2 2-7, 8-7.
Denmark has also secured a title of its own after its mixed
doubles pairs defeated their Chinese opponents in the semifinals
matches.
Top seeds Jens Erikssen and Mette Schjoldager will meet
compatriots Michael Sogaard and Rikke Olsen, seeded second in the
event.
The 2000 World Grand Prix Finals champions Erikssen and
Schjoldager were tested to the limits before defeating Chen Qiqiu
and Chen Lin 7-8, 7-0, 7-4, 8-6, 7-1. Meanwhile, Sogaard and
Olsen beat Liu Yong and Zhang Jiewen 7-0, 7-0, 8-6, 7-5. (nvn)
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