Taufik sets date with Lin Dan in semifinals

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

Indonesian badminton star Taufik Hidayat moved a step closer to defending his Indonesia Open title after defeating Muhd Hafiz B. Hashim of Malaysia in the quarterfinals here on Friday.

Taufik, seeded fourth in the tournament, chalked up a 15-12, 15-7 victory over Hafiz to set up a semifinal match against top seed Lin Dan of China, who edged out 11th seed Wong Choon Hann of Malaysia 15-10, 15-7 in another quarterfinal match at the US$170,000 Djarum Indonesia Open.

Taufik was commanding against Hafiz, with a combination of long rallies, deep smashes and cunning short shots.

"I took the initiative and did not give him the opportunity to get going," Taufik said after the match.

In other action on the day, several Indonesian players exited the tournament, leaving the host country in contention only in the men's singles and doubles.

While there is still the chance of an all-Indonesian final in the men's doubles, Taufik is the lone Indonesian remaining in singles play after injury-plagued Sony Dwi Kuncoro fell to Bao Chunlai of China 15-5, 15-2.

Third seed Chen Hong of China, a finalist last year, joined his two compatriots in the semifinals after he sent home eighth seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia 15-11, 15-9.

Taufik can look back on last year's tournament in Batam, Riau Islands where he dumped out three Chinese players -- Bao Chunlai in the third round, Wu Yunyong in the semifinals and Chen Hong in the final -- en route to victory.

But Taufik refused to be drawn into talking about his chances against world number one Lin Dan.

"Let's see the match tomorrow (Saturday)," he said.

Lin Dan said Taufik would be tough to beat in front of his home fans. "But I have a chance too."

In the men's doubles, Indonesia saw top seeds Luluk Hadiyanto/Alven Yulianto and third seeds Flandi Limpele/Eng Hian cruise through to the semifinals.

Luluk/Alven, who stopped compatriots Candra Wijaya/Sigit Budiarto 15-11, 15-10 in the third round, thumped fifth seeds Liu Kwok Wa/Albertus Susanto Njoto of Hong Kong 15-7, 15-5 in the quarters.

Flandi/Eng posted a 15-6, 15-6 victory over Malaysian pair Tan Bin Shen/Ong Soon Hock on Friday.

In the semifinals, Luluk/Alven will be challenged by Chew Choon Eng/Choong Tan Fook of Malaysia, while Flandi/Eng will have to tackle second seeds Fu Haifeng/Cai Yun of China.

Indonesia did not fare so well in other matches.

In the mixed doubles, sixth seeds Nova Widianto/Lilyana Natsir, who had been tipped as favorites, lost a tough quarterfinal match to third seeds Zhang Jun/Gao Ling of China 7- 15, 15-9, 17-15.

Eighth seeds Anggun Nugroho/Tetty Yunita lost to fourth seeds Robert Blair/Natalie Munt of England 15-12, 13-15, 15-12.

Fransisca Ratnasari Haris was the last Indonesian player to lose in the women's singles. After shocking top seed Pi Hongyan of France in the third round, Fransisca was stopped by Salakjit Ponsana of Thailand 8-11, 11-3, 11-2.

In the women's doubles, Indonesia's Nathalia Poluakan/Mundiasti Rani failed to get past third seeds Zhang Dan/Zhang Yawen of China, losing 15-1, 15-11.

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