Resurgent Taufik reaches final
Musthofid, The Jakarta Post, Batam, Riau
Indonesia's Taufik Hidayat and China's Chen Hong will face each other once again in the final of the Sanyo Indonesia Open after their semifinal wins here on Saturday.
It will be a repeat of last year's final in which the Indonesian came out the winner.
Taufik continued his commanding run in the tournament with an easy 15-8, 15-5 win over qualifier Wu Yunyong of China while Chen brushed aside Lee Hyun-il of South Korea equally easily with a 15-6, 15-5 win.
This time around, the Chinese national has come to the tournament after recording a victory at the recent Singapore Open.
"Given his title at the Singapore Open, Chen is a consistent player. He has good speed and attacking power in reserve," Taufik said.
Taufik became the only Indonesian hope with Candra Wijaya and Halim Haryanto crashing out 15-7, 9-15, 8-15 to Pramote Teerawiwatana and Tesana Panvisvas of Thailand earlier in the day.
Candra and Halim admitted they were not as highly tuned as the other pair, given it was their first tournament together.
The Thais will meet Sang Yang and Zhang Bo of China, the 15-5, 15-6 winners over Malaysians Choong Tan Fook and Lee Wan Wah.
Meanwhile, China was denied an all China final in the women's singles after Wang Chen of Hong Kong defeated Zhou Mi 11-7, 11-9. Defending champion Gong Ruina had to abandon her hope of grabbing another victory after losing to compatriot Xie Xinfang 11-9, 8- 11, 11-8.
However, China has secured the women's doubles title with Yang Wei and Zhang Jiewen, and Gao Ling and Huang Sui cruising to the finals.
Yang and Zhang, who were recently reprimanded by the International Badminton Federation (IBF) for their unsportsmanlike performance during the World Championships, overcame a second set mishap to beat Koreans Ra Kyung-min and Lee Kyung-won 15-12, 12-15, 15-4.
Gao and Huang stopped another Korean pair of Hwang Yu-mi and Lee Hyo-jung 15-5, 15-4.
The mixed doubles will fuel Korean and Chinese rivalry with world champions Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min to face Olympic gold medalists Zhang Jun and Gao Ling.
Kim and Ra defeated Nathan Robertson and Gail Emms of England 17-14, 15-6 while Zhang and Gao came from behind to dispatch another Korean pair of Kim Yong-hyun and Lee Hyo-jung 14-17, 15- 11, 15-11.
With Taufik still on show a big upturn in the number of spectators will be assured as it was on Saturday.
Against Wu, who had to go through qualifying matches to reach the main round, Taufik enjoyed control. However it was a close game early with the players exchanging service many times.
Taufik capitalized on his fast footwork coupled by poor drives to continue his charge throughout the game.
Despite the win, Taufik, who said he had played not as well as in the quarterfinals, said the big test would come against Chen.
"I will be really happy only when I win tomorrow's (Sunday's) match," he said.
Meanwhile, Wu said he had not prepared well after a long lay- off.
"This is my second tournament after the Singapore Open," he said.
He also said that having to play four matches in the qualifying stage had drained his stamina.