RI's Olympic champ Taufik advances to world semis
RI's Olympic champ Taufik advances to world semis
Agencies, Anaheim, California
Reigning Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat staged a stirring comeback to defeat second-seed Kenneth Jonassen in a men's singles quarterfinal at the world badminton championships on Friday.
The Indonesian number six seed lost the first game 15-3 to the Dane and made a slow start to the second before rallying to clinch it 15-10.
He won the decisive third game 15-7. Taufik will meet fifth seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia in the semifinals. Lee easily defeated fourth seed Bao Chunlai of China 15-5 15-7.
"I'm not one to give up easily and I want to make it as far as I can. I need to prove that I'm not just the 'jago kampung' (hometown hero) just because I always win on home ground and not elsewhere," Lee said after his win.
Lee said he surprised his opponent by playing a fast game.
"I feel like I couldn't keep up with the speed of his game. He was very fast," Bao told reporters after the game.
Top seed Lin Dan survived a scare, losing the first game to 13th seed Lee Hyun-il of South Korea before recovering to win 5- 15, 15-7, 15-8 to set up a semifinal clash with third seed Peter Gade of Denmark.
Gade beat China's Chen Hong 15-13, 15-4 earlier in the day.
"I think I will beat Lin Dan in the next one," Gade told reporters. "It will be tough but I am ready.
"Lin Dan is very good, he's been dominating for the last one and a half years. I've come close before and maybe tomorrow will be the day."
In the women's singles, sixth seed Xu Huaiwen of Germany overwhelmed third seed Pi Hongyan of France 11-3, 11-2.
"I was surprised it was an easy game. I feel that Pi could not adapt to the conditions on court, whereas I could," said Xu, who set up a semifinal clash with top seed Zhang Ning.
China's Zhang, who easily defeated Kaori Mori of Japan 11-4, 11-6, was nevertheless critical of her performance.
"I need to be more conscientious of my shuttle placement. For my next game I need to find a way to execute properly. Hopefully all my experience will help me with this," she told reporters.
Second seed Xie Xingfang of China easily defeated England's Tracey Hallam 11-3, 11-1 in another one-sided match.
Xie will face number five seed Cheng Shiao-Chieh of Taiwan in the other semifinal.
Cheng defeated fourth seed Wang Chen of Hong Kong 11-9, 5-11, 11-6 in a closely fought contest.
Two countries, Thailand and New Zealand, made history by claiming their first world championship medals on Friday.
Sudket Prapakamol and Saralee Thungthongkam shocked reigning Olympic mixed doubles champs Zhang Jun and Gao Ling of China to capture the first world championship medal for Thailand.
New Zealand also won its first worlds medal as 15th seeded Daniel Shirley and Sara Runesten-Petersen upset sixth seeded Lee Jae Jin and Lee Hyo Jung of South Korea 15-11, 15-13 in mixed doubles.
The Thais booked a place in the semis and a clash with Indonesia's Nova Widianto and Lilyana Natsir who beat Swedes Frederik Bergstrom and Johanna Persson 15-6, 15-6.
"I am very happy. This is a big relief," Sudket said. "My family will be very excited for me."
The Thais and Kiwis have at least a bronze medal as there is no match for third and fourth place.
Zhang and Gao won gold at both the Athens and Sydney Olympics and captured the 2001 World Championship title. They were runner- up at the last worlds in 2003.
Saralee and Sudket were not aware that they had made badminton history for their nation.
"We are very pleased to have a medal," Saralee said. Shirley and Runesten-Petersen will face China's Xie Zhongbo and Zhang Yawen in the semifinals as they are also assured of capturing at least a bronze medal.