Taufik pulls out of All England, Markis/Hendra through in Germany
Taufik pulls out of All England, Markis/Hendra through in Germany
Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post/Jakarta
Athens gold medalist Taufik Hidayat will have to put his quest
for the All England men's singles title on hold for another year
after pulling out of the tournament on Friday.
The Badminton Association of Indonesia (PBSI) sent a letter to
the All England organizing committee on Friday, informing it of
the sixth seed's withdrawal from the event next week.
Taufik, twice runner up at the sport's most prestigious
tournament, confirmed that he would not be competing, but was mum
on the reason.
"Yes, I withdrew, but it is better to talk to my coach Mulyo
Handoyo," he said.
Mulyo could not be reached, but association officials said
Taufik was suffering from a knee injury. However, the talented
but temperamental star from Bandung was involved in an ugly spat
with PBSI head of development affairs and director of the
national training center Icuk Sugiarto last month.
The two almost came to blows during a practice session when
Taufik complained that he only received 50 percent of his bonus
for winning in the Olympics.
Meanwhile, in Mulheim an der Ruhr, Germany, unseeded men's
doubles pair Markis Kidho/Hendra Setiawan rallied on Thursday to
win their quarterfinal against Koreans Hwang Ji Man/Lee Yong Dae
in the German Open.
Markis/Hendra, ranked 26 in the world, lost the first game 4-
15 to the Korean pair, but came back to take the second 15-11.
The Indonesians were little troubled in winning the third 15-6.
It set up a last four fight against top seeded Jens
Eriksen/Martin H. Lundgaard, who defeated Koreans Ha Tae Kwon/Yim
Bang Eun 17-14, 15-9.
The other semifinal will feature sixth seeded Jung Jae
Sung/Lee Jae Jin of Korea and second seeded Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun of
China.
The Koreans defeated unseeded Malaysians Chan Chong Ming/Koo
Kien Keat 15-9, 8-15, 15-12, while Fu/Cai thrashed eighth seeded
Indonesian-born Tony Gunawan/Howard Bach of the United States 15-
0, 13-15, 15-11.
Markis/Hendra, who overcame the Japanese duo Shuici
Sakamoto/Shintaro Ikeda in the first round 15-7, 15-7, and
seventh seeded Chong Tan Fook/Chew Choon Eng of Malaysia 15-7, 7-
15, 11-15, have a good record against Eriksen/Lungaard.
They edged athe veteran Danes, who will be top seeds at the
All England, in the semis of the Denmark Open last year 13-15,
15-12, 15-7.
Other Indonesians did not fare as well at the All England
warm-up tournament.
Women's singles player Maria Kristin lost in the qualification
rounds, women's doubles pair Jo Novita/Lita Nurlita lost in the
second, while Gresya Polii/Heni Budiman and Natalia Poluakan/Rani
Mundiasti failed to pass the first hurdle.