Resurgent Taufik reaches final
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.