Taufik in rematch with Xia in Malaysia Open
Taufik in rematch with Xia in Malaysia Open
JAKARTA (JP): Indonesian best hope Taufik Hidayat set a
rematch with Chinese Xia Xuanze in the US$150,000 Proton-Eon
Malaysia Open final on Sunday at the Malawati stadium in Shah
Alam.
Taufik earned his final berth after he overcame Indian dark
horse Pulella Gopichand 15-12, 15-11 on Saturday. Xia reached the
final in a tough match against home favorite Wong Choong Hann 17-
15, 15-10.
In their last meeting in the All England in May, Taufik easily
bowed out to Xia in the final.
"I will fight hard against Xia tomorrow, but I don't expect
too much as my personal target is only to reach the semifinals.
It would really be a surprise as I haven't made a full
preparation due to my back injury," Taufik told The Jakarta Post
in a telephone interview.
Speaking on his match, Taufik said Gopichand played well in
contrast to him who was late to adjust with the situation.
"I think Gopichand has performed his best playing as today is
our first meet. His playing is very outstanding and I think
nobody can underestimate him anymore in the future," he said.
Gopichand, whose world ranking is 18, has been dubbed as the
next Prakash Padukone. Padukone, who is also Gopichand's teacher,
was Indian star in the 1980s.
Indonesia also has a chance to win the men's doubles title as
Flandy Limpele and Eng Hian defeated compatriots Candra Wijaya
and Antonius Budi Ariantho 15-9, 15-12.
The world number 10 Indonesians will challenge second seeds
Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung of South Korea, who are in the
world number three spot, on Sunday.
Lee and Yoo crushed the Malaysian best duo of Choong Tan Fook
and Lee Wan Wah 15-12, 15-7.
Eng Hian said: "This is the biggest chance for Flandy and I to
win a Grand Prix series title after our last one in the 1999
Korean Open. Our performance is good enough here that we are sure
we can win the title."
"On the contrary, Lee and Yoo just reached their top level
form today. In the early rounds, they had to play rubber sets
against non-seeded players."
"This tournament's victory will add our self confidence and
motivation in the upcoming Olympic Games," he said. Eng Hian and
Flandy, last year's tournament runner up, was targeted to win the
title to retain Indonesia's dominancy in men's doubles.
Indonesian mixed doubles Tri Kusharyanto and Minarti Timur
also reached the final after beating Chinese second stringers
Zhang Jun and Gao Ling 15-5, 15-7.
The world number two pair will face Kim Dong-moon and Ra
Kyung-min of South Korea, who defeated Chinese Liu Yong and Ge
Fei 15-12, 15-6.
China created an all Chinese final in both women's singles and
doubles to ensure two titles at the last Grand Prix series event
before the Olympic Games start on Sept. 15.
In the singles event, world number one Gong Zhichao had a
comfortable win over former teammate Wang Chen, who is now
playing for Hong Kong, 11-5, 11-2.
She will meet compatriot and world number four Dai Yun on
Sunday. Dai easily tamed the 1998 Commonwealth Games gold
medalist Kelly Morgan of Wales 11-3, 11-5.
In the doubles, top seeds and world number one Ge Fei and Gu
Jun eliminated Ra Kyung-min and Chung Jae-hee of South Korea 15-
5, 15-12. They will face juniors Huang Nanyan and Yang Wei, who
beat the Indonesia Open winners Joanne Goode and Donna Kellogg of
England 15-2, 15-12. (yan)