Taufik to face Simon in badminton final match

Taufik to face Simon in badminton final match

Eva C. Komandjaja, The Jakarta Post, Palembang

Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat finally seems to be hitting
his stride. After losing twice in the team matches, On Wednesday
defeated North Sumatra's Wimpie Mahardi in the men's singles
semifinals at the Dempo Badminton Hall.

It was revenge for Taufik, who lost 11-15, 15-17 to Wimpie in
the opening round of the team event last week. Taufik was in
winning form this time around, defeating Wimpie 15-10, 15-10.

However, it was a tough battle for Taufik, who won the Olympic
gold medal for Indonesia in Athens.

The world's No. 4 had to deal with Wimpie's hard smashes and
often made mistakes in front of the net due to his nervousness.
His frustration was palpable when he deliberately aimed his
smashes to Wimpie's body and head several times. Wimpie is ranked
only 131st in the world.

Bearing a heavy burden of having to win a gold medal for West
Java, Taufik was disbelief -- many times shaking his head --
every time Wimpie's shots landed on his side.

The spectators were mixed in their favorites during the
action. Although the home crowd was shouting in support for
Taufik, they clapped their hands every time Wimpie made an
excellent shot in the game.

After more than one and a half hours of play, Taufik finally
closed the game with a hard smash to the right side of the court
and booked himself a ticket to the final where he will meet a
young and talented shuttler Simon Santoso of Jakarta.

Simon advanced to the final with a 15-13, 15-10 win over more
experienced Marleve Mainaky of West Java.

Despite his experience, the 32-year-old Marleve could not
display his best, as he did when defeating Athens Olympic bronze
medalist Sony Dwi Kuncoro on Tuesday.

Simon looked in charge almost from the start with Marleve
seemingly having no impetus to counter. Simon forced long rallies
before finishing the with sudden and punishing smashes.

Talking about his chance in playing against his gold medalist
Taufik Hidayat in the final, Simon said he would give it his all
because he had nothing to lose.

"I will be striving to play the best I can in the match and I
have nothing to lose," Simon told The Jakarta Post after the
match.

In the women's singles semifinal match, Jakarta's Silvi
Antarini chalked up an easy 11-3, 11-2 win over Nitya Krishinda
of Nanggroe Aceh Darussalam while in other court, Linda
Djaelawidjaja of West Java suffered a 6-11, 11-6, 3-11 loss to
East Java's Dewi Tira.

Silvi will play against Dewi in the final on Thursday
afternoon.

Meanwhile, in the mixed doubles event, newly paired Flandy
Limpele and Lita Nurlita of West Java overcame Jakarta's Candra
Wijaya and Jo Novita in 15-6, 15-12 match.

Never playing in mixed doubles before, the two pairs seemed to
be a little awkward and suffered from lack of coordination in the
game as they often clashed with each other on return shots.

However, left-handed Flandy could support Lita with his
unpredictable shots aimed at Jo Novita, and sealed victory for
West Java.

In the other semifinals, Nova Widianto and Vita Marissa of
Jakarta denied an all-West Java final by beating Alven Yulianto
and Yunita 15-12, 17-15.

"This is my first time playing mixed doubles and they
(Nova/Vita) are specialized in mixed doubles so I guess my chance
is really small but I will try my best," Flandy said about his
final.