Taufik to meet Gopichand in Malaysia Open semis

JAKARTA (JP): Indonesia's best hope, Taufik Hidayat, survived his quarterfinals test against Chen Hong of China at the US$150,000 Proton-Eon Malaysia Open at the Malawati stadium in Shah Alam on Friday.

The 19-year-old Indonesian, currently number three in the world, had to sweat out before taming world number 13 Chen 15-13, 9-15, 15-0.

Coach Mulyo Handoyo said in a telephone interview that Taufik was down 5-13 in the first game but managed to bounce back to take the game 15-13.

"But in the second set, his performance dropped as he made many unforced errors and allowed Chen to take control of the game. Luckily Taufik found his rhythm again in the decider and did not give his Chinese opponent a chance to attack," he said.

Taufik will meet Indian giant killer Pulella Gopichand in Saturday's semifinals. World number 18 Gopichand upset home favorite and world ranked 10, Ong Ewe Hock, 15-13, 15-9. The Indian made a remarkable upset Thursday by eliminating world number seven Ji Xinpeng in the third round match.

The other semifinals will see Malaysia's best hope in the Olympic Games, Wong Choong Hann, and the All England champion Xia Xuanze.

Wong, who is the world number six, had a comfortable victory over Luo Yigang of China, number nine in the world ranking, 15-6, 15-6.

While Xia, currently world number four, had an easy victory over Keita Masuda of Japan 15-4, 15-6.

In the women's singles, Indonesia's sole hope, Lidya Djaelawidjaja, failed to reach the semis as she lost to the 1998 Commonwealth Games winner Kelly Morgan of Wales 5-11, 1-11.

Morgan will challenge world number four Dai Yun of China, who had to struggle to beat Kim Ji-hyun of South Korea 11-7, 4-11, 11-3.

In another semifinals match, top seed Gong Zhichao of China will meet ex-teammate Wang Chen, who is now playing for Hong Kong. Gong defeated Takako Ida of Japan 11-8, 11-3 while Wang upset third seed and world number five Gong Ruina 11-4, 11-9.

Indonesia failed in the women's doubles as Etty Tantri and Cynthia Tuwankotta lost to Joanne Goode and Donna Kellogg of England 15-17, 8-15.

Indonesia still has a chance in the mixed doubles as top seeds Tri Kusharyanto and Minarti Timur reached the semis after beating Lee Dong-soo and Lee Hyo-jung of South Korea 15-7, 15-6.

The Indonesians will meet Zhang Jun and Gao Ling of China, who beat Peter Blackburn and Rhonda Cator of Australia 15-10, 15-9.

Unfortunately, another Indonesian duo, Bambang Suprianto and Zelin Resiana could not keep up the pace with world number five Kim Dong-moon and Ra Kyung-min, losing 15-13, 7-15, 2-15.

Kim and Ra will challenge Chinese second seeds Liu Yong and Ge Fei of China, world number three. Liu and Ge had to sweat before overcoming another South Korean pair, Ha Tae-kwon and Chung Jae- hee 15-11, 8-15, 15-6. (yan)