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)