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.