Taufik leads RI to second round
Taufik leads RI to second round
BANGKOK (JP): Debutant Taufik Hidayat led the Indonesian wagon
to the second round of badminton competition at the 13th Asian
Games on Sunday.
Playing in the men's singles, 17-year-old Taufik hardly broke
into a sweat while disposing of Afshin Bozorgzadeh of Iran, a
country where the sport is alien.
It took Taufik, who used jumping smashes and overhead lobs to
outclass the minnow Iranian, just 23 minutes to score a 15-5, 15-
1 win.
"I feel good clearing the first hurdle untroubled. I hope it
will encourage me to perform better in the next stage," said
Taufik, who collected his first international title at the Brunei
Open in July.
In the second round, Taufik will meet host shuttler Anuphap
Theeraratskul, who was an easy 15-5, 15-0 winner over Pakistani
Wajid Ali.
The mixed doubles team of Tri Kusherjanto and Minarti Timur
were other Indonesians to survive the opening round. They made
short work of Hong Kong pair Yau Kwun Yuen and Ng Ching 15-1, 15-
3 in just 21 minutes.
Tri and Minarti will meet former world champions Liu Yong and
Ge Fei of China in the quarterfinals on Tuesday. Liu and Ge
posted a straight-set but hard-earned 15-6, 15-9 win over
Japanese duo Saichi Watanabe and Haruko Matsuda.
"It will be hard to overcome Ge and Liu," coach Richard
Mainaky said. "I'm not being pessimistic but the Chinese pair are
still tough to beat although they missed some international
tournaments this year."
In the women's doubles, Indonesia's new partnership of Indarti
Issoliana and Carmelita beat Tung Chau Man and Chan Mei Mei of
Hong Kong 15-6, 15-3 in 28 minutes.
But they face a steep road to the gold medal as they are drawn
to meet the world number one doubles of Ge Fei and Gu Jun of
China in the quarterfinals. The Chinese pair have not lost to any
Indonesian opponent this year.
"We have to be realistic about our chance to beat them. But we
do not want to lose that easily," coach Imelda Wiguna said.
Men's singles
Second seed Hendrawan, as well as the top two seeds, has a
first-round bye. The Indonesian world number five will open his
quest for gold in a second-round match against Ian-Gil
Piencenaves of the Philippines, who beat Chorvan Chhea of
Cambodia 15-9, 15-10 on Sunday.
If the draw goes as expected, Hendrawan will meet Malaysian
Roslin Hashim in the quarterfinals.
Malaysia's Danish coach Morten Frost Hansen said that Roslin
had a great chance to advance to the semifinals, despite the
tough challenges from top seeded players Sun Jun, Hendrawan, Yong
Hock Kin and Dong Jiong.
"Who knows, Roslin, or Indonesian young player Taufik and
Korean Park Soong-boo can spring surprises here," he said.
Fresh from its triumph in the men's team event, Indonesia is
hoping to win the men's singles and doubles crowns.
World number one pair Ricky Subagja and Rexy Mainaky, whom
Indonesia expects to lift the gold, will begin defending their
title against Cambodian tandem of Chorvan Chhea and Sokhang Krang
on Monday.
Indonesia's other pair, Candra Wijaya and Tony Gunawan, will
meet South Korean dark horses Lee Dong-soo and Yoo Yong-sung in
another first-round match on Monday. (yan)