Tepid Taufik lets Simon have his say in Senayan

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.