Tepid Taufik lets Simon have his say in Senayan

Moch. N. Kurniawan, The Jakarta Post, Jakarta

World and Olympic champion Taufik Hidayat gave a half-hearted effort in a 15-12, 15-5 upset by compatriot Simon Santoso in the third round of the Djarum Indonesia Open on Thursday.

After fighting for the first game, the third seed appeared to tank the second when 16th seeded Simon opened up a big lead at Istora sports hall in Senayan, Central Jakarta.

His indifferent performance was in contrast to national women's singles shuttler Maria Kristin Yulianto, who caused her own upset on Thursday by ousting second seed Yao Jie of the Netherlands 11-3, 11-6 in the second round.

Taufik, a five-time champion here and world ranked seven, was expected to have few problems against Simon, a player ranked 40th who lost their two previous encounters without winning a game.

The match ended on a low note as Taufik -- known for his prodigious talent and a moody temperament that can get the better of him -- hurriedly tapped a service return into the net.

The match seesawed in the first game, with Taufik winning six points from 0-5, before Simon rallied to reach 10-7. Taufik came back to 12-10, and then Simon, at 20 four years younger than his opponent, won five consecutive points to take the game.

For whatever reason, Taufik looked disinterested in the second game, hitting no smashes and often letting Simon's shots go.

At the postmatch press conference, Taufik at first denied he gave up.

"I lost because Simon played better. He was quicker and sharper than me today."

He admitted, however, that he hit his last shot into the net because he was trailing 5-14.

"With that margin, it was hard for me to catch Simon."

Simon, who defeated Park Sung Hwan of South Korea 15-8, 15-4 in the second round, will meet eighth seed Bonsaak Ponsana of Thailand. The latter beat Tommy Sugiarto, son of former world champion Icuk, 15-12, 15-5.

Top seed Kenneth Jonassen of Denmark won 15-5, 15-10 against Shoji Sato of Japan in the third round, and earlier beat Kang Woo Kyum of Korea 15-5, 15-1.

Second seed Lee Chong Wei of Malaysia also cruised into the quarterfinals by defeating Wimpie Mahardi of Singapore in the third round 15-13, 15-8 and James Chua of Malaysia 15-5, 15-6 in the second.

Indonesian hopeful and bronze medalist in the 2004 Olympic Sony Dwi Kuncoro also advanced to the last eight by crushing Marleve Mainaky 15-7, 15-6. He earlier beat Yogendran Khrisnan of Malaysia 15-9, 15-10.

In the women's singles, world No. 71 Kristin had something to prove after being left off the Sudirman Cup team competition squad earlier this year.

She was able to do it against Yao, who, despite her opponent's excellent play, was clearly having an off day.

"I never met her before, so I only tried to return her shots as well as possible," said Kristin, who plays fifth seeded Japanese Kaori Mori on Friday.

"As I could develop my rhythm from the beginning of the match, my confidence grew."

Kristin is the last local woman in the singles. The two women who played singles in the Sudirman Cup in May, Fransisca Ratnasari and Adriyanti Firdasari, lost in the first and second rounds respectively.

In another upset on Thursday night, second seeded doubles team Luluk Hadiyanto and Alvent Yulianto of Indonesia lost to Malaysians Lee Wan Wah and Choong Tan Fook 5-15, 17-15, 15-12 in the third round.